Alibaba has already been investing in cloud computing business, which is also one of its fastest-growing units. Now, the Chinese e-commerce giant is reported to be ready to invest a €22.9 million ($27 million) in MariaDB, best known for operating the most popular alternative to MySQL and one of the web’s open source database servers. The deal, however, has not been officially confirmed yet by either Alibaba or MariaDB but it is speculated that it will see Alibaba’s Feng Yu join the startup’s board and allow MariaDB to pick a valuation of its choosing.
MariaDB that started as SkySQL was originally founded in 2009 by Michael Widenius, the founder of MYSQL. After he sold MYSQL to Sun Microsystems in 201,3 he merged SkySQL with Monty Program Ab founded in 2013. MariaDB has a big presence in the industry and its 12 million strong userbase is spread over the world includes big names like Booking.com, HP, Virgin Mobile and Wikipedia.
SkySQL is used in private, public and hybrid cloud deployments and it is the default in a number of Linux distributions like Red Hat, Ubuntu, and SUSE, adding another 60 million users to its fold, giving Alibaba a wide reach.
Alibaba is actively seeking new sources of revenue to ease the dependence on its core by investing in cloud computing and now foraying into the field of database servers. Alibaba has already invested in companies like Qiniu (a Chinese cloud storage provider) Dt Dream. MariaDB is its opportunity to make an entry into the west with a strong user base.
Now, this is to see what big revolution these two will bring to the Database universe by joining hands, rumors be true.