Introduction to the New Percona Everest Beta

Posted on by Vinicius Grippa

In the rapidly evolving world of technology, database management remains a crucial, albeit challenging, aspect for many organizations. Percona, a leading provider of open-source database solutions, comes with its latest product, which is now in its beta phase: Percona Everest. This post aims to shed light on what Percona Everest is, how it works, and its potential impact on database management.

What is this tool? What is Percona Everest?

Percona has long been recognized for contributing to the open-source community, offering enhanced versions of MySQL, MongoDB, and Postgres. Solutions, including Percona Xtrabackup, Percona Monitoring and Management(PMM), and Percona Toolkit, have aided database administrators (DBAs) by providing alternatives to proprietary solutions, thereby preventing vendor lock-in.

The newest addition to Percona’s suite of tools, Percona Everest, aims to redefine the use and management of databases. Built on the foundation of Percona Operators, Everest simplifies the database lifecycle, encompassing provisioning, configuration, and management, with an overarching goal of saving time and resources traditionally dedicated to database management or Database as a Service (DBaaS) offerings.

Getting Started with Percona Everest

The initial step towards using Percona Everest involves setting up a Kubernetes cluster, a process supported on both Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) and Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS). For illustration, this post details the process of using GKE and the Everest client running on a MacOS Sonoma with Apple silicon, beginning with the use of the gcloud CLI and proceeding to the Kubernetes cluster creation.

The first step is to create the Kubernetes cluster in GKE:

Using Percona Everest

With the installation complete, the focus shifts to installing the Everest client. It is simple as we need only to download the binary (and the documentation already provides the commands):

With the client installed, we will perform the installation of the Percona Operators:

It is very important to save the token, as we will use it later in the UI interface.

With the installation done, we need to enable the port forwarding so we can use the UI interface:

And we open our browser using the forwarded port (8080) at localhost (http://127.0.0.1:8080/login):

 

With the Everest UI, we can start managing our databases and creating our first instance. I’m not going into the details of every option(maybe in another opportunity), but it is similar to deploying a DBaaS service (RDS, for example):

  

With all steps completed, we will see our database initializing:

And we can confirm that the pods are being installed:

This overview provides insight into the user interface’s features, highlighting its intuitive design for creating and managing database instances. Nonetheless, as it currently stands in its beta phase, there is a noticeable limitation in the range of options available. This indicates the potential for a more comprehensive exploration as the tool matures and evolves in subsequent updates.

Observations and Conclusion

Reflecting on the journey from traditional database management practices to the modern, automated approaches facilitated by technologies like Kubernetes, this evolution highlights the industry’s shift towards efficiency and simplicity. The advent of containers and the introduction of orchestration and automation by Kubernetes have been game-changers. These innovations underscore the dynamic nature of technology, where continuous change and evolution are the only constants. This fast-paced development necessitates smarter, more streamlined ways to deploy databases, aligning with the perspective shared by Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO, on the transformative nature of technology and the so-called “death of coding.” Huang’s vision suggests a paradigm shift where the essence of innovation and product creation is no longer tethered to deep technical expertise in specific areas but is accessible to those with the vision and ideas.

Percona Everest is emblematic of this shift, offering a platform that democratizes database management by abstracting the complexities of traditional database administration. It empowers businesses, especially startups with limited resources, to focus on their core objectives rather than the intricacies of database and infrastructure management. By minimizing the need for specialized knowledge in database operations, Everest enables innovators and creators to reclaim their role at the forefront of product development and innovation.