Google Cloud SQL is a fully managed MySQL service hosted on Google Cloud Platform, providing a database backbone for applications running on Google App Engine or Google Compute Engine. Today, we are launching two nice new features that give you more visibility and control over your Cloud SQL databases: point-in-time recovery and custom MySQL flags.



Point-in-time recovery allows you to recover an instance to a specific point in time. For example, if an operator ‘fat finger’ error causes a loss of data you can recover a database to the state it was just before the error occurred. It’s also great for testing your application and diagnosing issues since you can clone your live data to a testing database. See the point-in-time-recovery docs for more information.



Custom MySQL flags allow you to configure and tune your database to support particular applications and improve performance. For example, some applications require certain MySQL settings that are now supported by Cloud SQL, such as maximum packet sizes. You can also use custom flags to enable the MySQL slow query log to help spot performance issues, or put the database into read-only mode. There’s a full list of the flags you can set here.



Hosting your data in Google Cloud SQL gives you convenience and peace of mind; and now you get more control too. Get started with Cloud SQL today.



-Posted by Joe Faith, Product Manager