MaxDB is a re-branded and enhanced version of SAP DB. It started with a
partnership in 2003 where MaxDB became a direct advancement of the SAP
DB 7.4 code base. MaxDB is more like a traditional Oracle database
product considering SAP and Oracle compete for the same business market.

From the website:
-----------------
MaxDB is a heavy-duty, SAP-certified open source database for OLTP and
OLAP usage which offers high reliability, availability, scalability and
a very comprehensive feature set. It is targetted for large mySAP
Business Suite environments and other applications that require maximum
enterprise-level database functionality and complements the MySQL
database server.

Today, about 6,000 customer installations are using MaxDB technology
globally, including Toyota, Intel, DaimlerChrysler, Braun-Gillette,
Bayer, Colgate, Yamaha, and Deutsche Post (the German Post Office).
Benefits

* Reduced cost of your SAP implementation
* Easy configuration and low administration
* Elaborate backup and restore capabilities
* Continuous operation, no scheduled downtimes required
* Designed for large number of users and high workloads
* Scales to database sizes in the terabytes
* High availability through cluster and hot-standby support
* Synchronization Manager to control enterprise-wide data replication
* Easy-to-use graphical database tools
* Available for all enterprise HW/OS platforms
* Supports all major SAP solutions

High performance, availability, operational reliability, scalability,
ease of use, and low total cost of ownership are just a few of the
demands that enterprise environments place on a DBMS infrastructure.
MaxDB helps you meet these demands. It is a powerful, state-of-the-art
DBMS built for enterprise usage scenarios.
-----------

If you want to see the entire list of what it can do checkout the
whitepaper: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/maxdb/pdf/whitepaper.pdf


Michael Vilain wrote:
> In article <UtWdnbxdQZRPzv_eRVn-3A@giganews.com>,
> "Duane Phillips" <askme@askme.askme> wrote:
>
>>Have been using MySQL on an infrequent basis, mostly on web databases.
>>
>>Now the MySQL site is pushing both products.
>>Both now support stored procedures and triggers.
>>
>>So exactly what are the major differences between MySQL and MaxDB?
>>
>>How do they compare?
>
> Well, as a thought, unless you stage your own system or colocate, I've
> yet to see a web site using MaxDB. Most of the sites that offer web
> hosting services with open software have MySQL, apache, php, and perl.
> Is there a perl DBI for MaxDB yet?