What is the difference between MySQL DB System and HeatWave?

The MySQL DB System is the standard managed MySQL service for OLTP workloads with persistent block storage. HeatWave is an optional in-memory query accelerator that loads data from the MySQL DB System into a cluster of HeatWave nodes for massively parallel analytics processing. You can run both OLTP and analytics on the same database without ETL — transactional queries use the MySQL engine while analytics queries are offloaded to HeatWave automatically.

How is HeatWave Lakehouse priced?

HeatWave Lakehouse extends HeatWave to query data in OCI Object Storage without loading it into the MySQL DB System first. Pricing is based on the number of HeatWave nodes allocated to process Lakehouse queries, charged per node per hour. The data in Object Storage is charged at standard Object Storage rates. This model is cost-effective for large analytical datasets that do not need to reside in MySQL storage.

MySQL HeatWave Cost Estimator

StorageOCI

Estimate MySQL HeatWave costs for DB system, cluster nodes, and Lakehouse storage.

Last verified: May 2026

MySQL HeatWave Configuration

DB System Shape

Data Storage (GB)

Enable HeatWave Cluster

HeatWave Nodes

$3.408/node/hr for in-memory query acceleration.

Lakehouse Storage (GB)

HeatWave Lakehouse for querying object storage data.

Raw Output

Output will appear here...

See It in Action

Your team's current architecture: MySQL on RDS ($600/month) + nightly ETL to Snowflake ($800/month) + ETL pipeline maintenance ~10 hr/week of an engineer's time. The estimator models HeatWave consolidation: MySQL DB System with HeatWave 4-node cluster = $1,250/month. Eliminates the ETL pipeline AND the Snowflake bill. Net cost savings: $150/month + 10 hr/week of engineer time freed up.

What This Tool Does

MySQL HeatWave on OCI is a managed MySQL-compatible database service with an integrated in-memory query accelerator that can speed up analytics queries by orders of magnitude. Costs comprise the MySQL DB System (shape and storage), optional HeatWave cluster nodes (for analytics acceleration), and data transfer. The HeatWave Cost Estimator helps you project monthly expenses for different DB System shapes, storage sizes, HeatWave node counts, and High Availability configurations. It also estimates the cost of running HeatWave Lakehouse for querying data directly in Object Storage.

Technical Details

The estimator computes HeatWave costs in three tiers: MySQL DB System (shape × hours, plus storage GB × rate), HeatWave cluster (node count × per-node-hour rate, scaled by AutoPilot recommendations if enabled), and HeatWave Lakehouse (additional node-hours when Object Storage querying is active). HA option doubles MySQL DB System cost. Output presents per-component breakdown plus comparison to AWS RDS+Redshift and Azure SQL+Synapse for the same workload.

Common Use Cases

1Estimating costs for a production MySQL HeatWave DB System with High Availability and a 4-node HeatWave cluster
2Comparing the cost of running analytics queries on a standard MySQL shape versus adding HeatWave acceleration nodes
3Projecting costs for HeatWave Lakehouse when querying 10 TB of data stored in OCI Object Storage
4Calculating the savings from using HeatWave AutoPilot to automatically right-size the HeatWave cluster node count

Common Questions

What is the difference between MySQL DB System and HeatWave?: The MySQL DB System is the standard managed MySQL service for OLTP workloads with persistent block storage. HeatWave is an optional in-memory query accelerator that loads data from the MySQL DB System into a cluster of HeatWave nodes for massively parallel analytics processing. You can run both OLTP and analytics on the same database without ETL — transactional queries use the MySQL engine while analytics queries are offloaded to HeatWave automatically.
How is HeatWave Lakehouse priced?: HeatWave Lakehouse extends HeatWave to query data in OCI Object Storage without loading it into the MySQL DB System first. Pricing is based on the number of HeatWave nodes allocated to process Lakehouse queries, charged per node per hour. The data in Object Storage is charged at standard Object Storage rates. This model is cost-effective for large analytical datasets that do not need to reside in MySQL storage.

Expert Tips

TIP

HeatWave's killer feature is running OLTP and analytics on the same database with NO ETL. Your transactional MySQL DB system serves writes and point queries; complex analytics queries automatically offload to HeatWave nodes. For data teams currently doing nightly ETL from MySQL to a separate analytics warehouse, HeatWave can collapse that pipeline.

TIP

HeatWave Lakehouse extends the same querying model to data in Object Storage — ad-hoc queries against Parquet/CSV files in OCI Object Storage with HeatWave's parallel processing. For data lake analytics, this is dramatically cheaper than maintaining a separate warehouse like Snowflake.

TIP

AutoPilot for HeatWave automatically right-sizes the cluster based on workload. Set a max cluster size as a cost guardrail, and AutoPilot scales between 1 and that max based on actual query demand. Often delivers 30-50% cost reduction vs manually-sized clusters.

Related Learning Guides

Autonomous Database on OCI20 min read

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