Brian Aker
Encyclopedia
Brian Aker, born August 4, 1972 in Lexington
, Kentucky
, USA
is an open-source hacker who has worked on various Apache
modules, the Slash system, and numerous storage engines for the MySQL
database. Aker was Director of Architecture at MySQL AB
until it was acquired by Sun Microsystems. He led Sun's web scaling research group, where he worked on the Drizzle database project
. He later became a Distinguished Engineer for Sun Microsystems . He left Sun Microsystems after Oracle acquired it. After leaving Sun Microsystems he became the CTO of Data Differential and provided support to open source projects such as libmemcached, Gearman
and Drizzle database project
. Aker is currently a Fellow at HP.
After graduating with triple majors in environmental science, computing and mathematics, from Antioch College
, Aker contributed to his first open source project, the 386BSD
operating system
. He then moved to work on Slashdot
, where his initial task was to rewrite the database back-end to use Oracle
. However, he extended the system to ensure it allowed multiple database back-ends, and became a published author along the way, writing Running Weblogs with Slash (ISBN 978-0596001001) with chromatic
and Dave Krieger. From 2001 to 2007 he posted stories on Slashdot under the Author name of "Krow".
Aker first involved himself with the MySQL project in 1998. In 2001 he released an early prototype of MySQL with Perl based functions and later went from VA Linux Systems to MySQL to lead development of the 4.1 and 5.0 versions of the MySQL Database Server. He has presented projects integrating MySQL with a number of technologies, including a working version of MySQL with Java based functions with Eric Herman in 2004
Aker has been known to offer a Perl
Certification Course at the University of Washington. He has also worked on the Virtual Hospital project, providing the Internet's first medical website, while at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics.
While not traveling and presenting at about six open source related conferences a year, he resides in Seattle, Washington. Some of the conferences Aker has presented at are OSCON
, Linuxfest Northwest
, Southern California Linux Expo
, and the MySQL Users Conference & Expo. He is also the maintainer of the C client library for the Memcached
server. He also maintains the current version of Gearman
.
He is a commentator on the prolific creation of NoSQL databases giving Ignite
talks on its evolution.
For fun, Aker also hacks his home telephone system, to be powered by the Asterisk (PBX)
.
A list of MySQL
projects Brian Aker has created:
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
is an open-source hacker who has worked on various Apache
Apache HTTP Server
The Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to as Apache , is web server software notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. In 2009 it became the first web server software to surpass the 100 million website milestone...
modules, the Slash system, and numerous storage engines for the MySQL
MySQL
MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
database. Aker was Director of Architecture at MySQL AB
MySQL AB
MySQL AB was a software company. MySQL AB is the creator of MySQL, a relational database management system, as well as related products such as MySQL Cluster...
until it was acquired by Sun Microsystems. He led Sun's web scaling research group, where he worked on the Drizzle database project
Drizzle (database server)
Drizzle is a free software/open source relational database management system that was forked from version 6.0 of the MySQL DBMS.Like MySQL, Drizzle has a client/server architecture and uses SQL as its primary command language...
. He later became a Distinguished Engineer for Sun Microsystems . He left Sun Microsystems after Oracle acquired it. After leaving Sun Microsystems he became the CTO of Data Differential and provided support to open source projects such as libmemcached, Gearman
Gearman
Gearman is an open source application framework originally written in Perl by Brad Fitzpatrick. Brian Aker and Eric Day rewrote the framework in C. Gearman is designed to distribute appropriate computer tasks to multiple computers, so large tasks can be done more quickly...
and Drizzle database project
Drizzle (database server)
Drizzle is a free software/open source relational database management system that was forked from version 6.0 of the MySQL DBMS.Like MySQL, Drizzle has a client/server architecture and uses SQL as its primary command language...
. Aker is currently a Fellow at HP.
After graduating with triple majors in environmental science, computing and mathematics, from Antioch College
Antioch College
Antioch College is a private, independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was the founder and the flagship institution of the six-campus Antioch University system. Founded in 1852 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1853 with politician and...
, Aker contributed to his first open source project, the 386BSD
386BSD
386BSD, sometimes called "Jolix", was a free Unix-like operating system based on BSD, first released in 1992. It ran on PC compatible computer systems based on the Intel 80386 microprocessor...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
. He then moved to work on Slashdot
Slashdot
Slashdot is a technology-related news website owned by Geeknet, Inc. The site, which bills itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters", features user-submitted and ‑evaluated current affairs news stories about science- and technology-related topics. Each story has a comments section...
, where his initial task was to rewrite the database back-end to use Oracle
Oracle database
The Oracle Database is an object-relational database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation....
. However, he extended the system to ensure it allowed multiple database back-ends, and became a published author along the way, writing Running Weblogs with Slash (ISBN 978-0596001001) with chromatic
Chromatic (programmer)
chromatic is the pseudonym of a writer and free software programmer who resides in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. He is the author of Extreme Programming Pocket Guide, a co-author of Perl Testing: A Developer's Notebook, the lead author of Perl Hacks, and an uncredited contributor to The Art of...
and Dave Krieger. From 2001 to 2007 he posted stories on Slashdot under the Author name of "Krow".
Aker first involved himself with the MySQL project in 1998. In 2001 he released an early prototype of MySQL with Perl based functions and later went from VA Linux Systems to MySQL to lead development of the 4.1 and 5.0 versions of the MySQL Database Server. He has presented projects integrating MySQL with a number of technologies, including a working version of MySQL with Java based functions with Eric Herman in 2004
Aker has been known to offer a Perl
Perl
Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...
Certification Course at the University of Washington. He has also worked on the Virtual Hospital project, providing the Internet's first medical website, while at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics.
While not traveling and presenting at about six open source related conferences a year, he resides in Seattle, Washington. Some of the conferences Aker has presented at are OSCON
O'Reilly Open Source Convention
The O'Reilly Open Source Convention is an annual convention for the discussion of free and open source software. It is organized by the publisher O'Reilly Media and is held each summer in the United States.-Notable events:...
, Linuxfest Northwest
Linuxfest Northwest
LinuxFest Northwest is an annual technology conference and expo held in Bellingham, Washington. It is a Saturday and Sunday weekend event held in late April...
, Southern California Linux Expo
Southern California Linux Expo
The Southern California Linux Expo is an annual Linux, Open-Source, and Free Software conference held in Los Angeles, CA. SCALE grew out of a series of LUGFests put on by the Simi Conejo Linux Users Group in the late 90s. There were four of them, held every 6 months at the Nortel development...
, and the MySQL Users Conference & Expo. He is also the maintainer of the C client library for the Memcached
Memcached
In computing, memcached is a general-purpose distributed memory caching system that was originally developed by Danga Interactive for LiveJournal, but is now used by many other sites. It is often used to speed up dynamic database-driven websites by caching data and objects in RAM to reduce the...
server. He also maintains the current version of Gearman
Gearman
Gearman is an open source application framework originally written in Perl by Brad Fitzpatrick. Brian Aker and Eric Day rewrote the framework in C. Gearman is designed to distribute appropriate computer tasks to multiple computers, so large tasks can be done more quickly...
.
He is a commentator on the prolific creation of NoSQL databases giving Ignite
Ignite (event)
Ignite is a global event, organized by volunteers, where participants are given five minutes to speak about their ideas and personal or professional passions, accompanied by 20 slides. Each slide is displayed for 15 seconds, and slides are automatically advanced. The Ignite format is similar to...
talks on its evolution.
For fun, Aker also hacks his home telephone system, to be powered by the Asterisk (PBX)
Asterisk (PBX)
Asterisk is a software implementation of a telephone private branch exchange ; it was created in 1999 by Mark Spencer of Digium. Like any PBX, it allows attached telephones to make calls to one another, and to connect to other telephone services including the public switched telephone network and...
.
A list of MySQL
MySQL
MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
projects Brian Aker has created:
- The Drizzle DatabaseDrizzle (database server)Drizzle is a free software/open source relational database management system that was forked from version 6.0 of the MySQL DBMS.Like MySQL, Drizzle has a client/server architecture and uses SQL as its primary command language...
server - MySQL Archive Storage EngineMySQL ArchiveMySQL Archive is a storage engine for the MySQL relational database management system. Users can use this analytic storage engine to create a table that is “archive” only. Data cannot be deleted from this table, only added...
- MySQL Federated Storage EngineMySQL FederatedThe MySQL Federated storage engine for the MySQL relational database management system is a storage engine which allows a user to create a table that is a local representation of a foreign table...
- Memcached Storage Engine
- CSV Storage Engine
- Blackhole Storage Engine
- WebMethods (HTTP) Storage Engine
External links
- Portrait: Brian Aker, database strategist
- Interview with Brian Aker
- Slashdot Interview with Brian Aker
- Brian Aker's Blog
- Audio Interview with Brian Aker on the Future of Databases
- Interview with Brian Aker on how to get a job as an open source developer
- Public Open Source Software Repository
- Interview with Brian Aker on FLOSS WeeklyFLOSS WeeklyFLOSS Weekly is a free software / open source themed podcast from the TWiT Network. The show premiered on April 7, 2006, and features prominent guests from the free software/open source community. It was originally hosted by Leo Laporte; his cohost for the first seventeen episodes was Chris DiBona...