Overview

Background

This project has the primary objective of ensuring that the University’s MariaDB infrastructure remains current and supportable. In order to do this, it is essential that the University upgrades to the latest stable and supported versions of MariaDB

An earlier project, (INF143), migrated from MySQL to MariaDB, saving approx. £30k per year in Oracle licence costs and moving the University towards a better supported open source community. Additionally, in the last project, automation was added to the build and deployment of databases. This project would like to continue this automation work to improve the efficiency of minor updates. 

There is a requirement to undertake patching to ensure that the environments remain supportable and up to date in relation to security.  

If no action is taken, the University would continue to be on an unsupported version and would be vulnerable to security breaches. 

The main deliverable is upgraded versions of the MariaDB databases, although the number of these and the users are currently not fully known.  

While DEV, TEST and LIVE upgrades will be required, a small amount of downtime, (approx. 1 hour), will be required to undertake the upgrade work, which will help when planning the migration work around user needs. 

Scope

There are a number of MariaDB servers in scope, although the full list of impacted databases is still to be determined.  

Analysis will determine the full list of databases in scope and an appropriate deployment schedule. Work will then be required to identify the scale of the impact and to ensure that user groups are made aware of the upgrade plans to ensure that the optimal time is planned for the upgrade. 

Out of scope

Initially, one of the main MariaDB databases identified was the University website (www.ed.ac.uk). However, this website migrated to external hosting in March 2022. Support is only needed for the on-premise MariaDB database until end March 2023 and existing support for the current version of MariaDB lasts until May 2023. Given this, it is anticipated that the MariaDB database associated with EdWeb will not require to be upgraded. 

Analysis will determine if any further existing MariaDB databases are out of scope of the project.  

Objectives and Deliverables

Ref

Objective (O) / Deliverable (D)

Priority

Owner

O1

To ensure that the UoE infrastructure is supported

D1

A full review of the impacted databases to be undertaken so that an appropriate deployment scheduled is identified and agreed

Must Have

Project Team

D2

An updated Technical Architecture Document (TAD) to be produced

Must Have

Development Technology

D3

An updated Business Requirements Document to be produced

Must Have

Project Team

O2

To upgrade the servers to the latest possible version in DEV

D4

To undertake deployment schedule for agreed databases in DEV

Must Have

Development Technology

D5

To check functionality after upgrade of databases in DEV to ensure no degradation of data or service

Must Have

User Groups

O3

To upgrade the servers to the latest possible version in TEST

D6

To undertake deployment schedule for agreed databases in TEST

Must Have

Development Technology

D7

To check functionality after upgrade of databases in TEST to ensure no degradation of data or service

Must Have

User Groups

O4

To upgrade the servers to the latest possible version in LIVE

D8

To undertake deployment schedule for agreed databases in LIVE

Must Have

Development Technology

D9

To check functionality after upgrade of databases in LIVE to ensure no degradation of data or service

Must Have

User Groups

O5

Infrastructure Handover

D10

Produce supporting collateral (eg deployment checklist, etc)

Must Have

Development Technology / Technology Management

O6

To update any relevant user support pages in related guidance documentation

D11

Updated versions of support materials

Must Have

Project Team

 

Note that these deliverables are indicative and yet to be agreed by the project team.

Benefits

  • MariaDB will remain in a supported state and we will continue to receive the required security patches.

This upgrade will ensure that the University’s database infrastructure remains supportable and minimises exposure to potential security breaches.

  • Sustainability

The updated databases will continue to be supported by the appropriate teams in Production Management. This is not expected to change. Once upgraded, the databases will be fully supported within the UoE infrastructure.

Success Criteria

  • All impacted databases are successfully identified together with the associated user groups
  • The upgrade of the databases are completed successfully in DEV, TEST and LIVE
  • There are no issues experienced by users with maintaining current data
  • There are no negative changes experienced by users to the current data

Project Milestones

Stage 

Milestone 

Due Date 

Plan 

Planning Sign Off 

06 May 2022* 

Analysis 

Impacted databases and user groups identified  

17 May 2022 

Execute 

Approach for database upgrade agreed 

27 May 2022 

Execute 

Database upgrade completed in DEV  

10 June 2022 

Execute 

Database upgrade completed in TEST  

28 June 2022 

Acceptance 

Acceptance Sign Off 

05 July 2022 

Deliver 

Delivery Date 

25 July 2022 

Deliver 

Deployment Sign Off review 

01 August 2022 

Close 

Project Closure 

08 August 2022 

*The Project Brief was signed off at the Project Meeting held 19/04/22 and, following Sponsor approval will progress to Apps Review on 21/04/22. This will have a positive impact on the project timeline, which will be updated once the project is noted at Apps Review. 

Project Info

Project
Annual Maria DB Upgrade
Code
INF165
Programme
ISG - IS Applications Infrastructure (INF)
Management Office
ISG PMO
Project Manager
Ailsa Glass
Project Sponsor
Suran Perera
Current Stage
Close
Status
Closed
Start Date
14-Mar-2022
Planning Date
20-Apr-2022
Delivery Date
05-Sep-2022
Close Date
26-Oct-2022
Overall Priority
Normal