MariaDB supports SSL connections to gain a better security level. Also, authentication plugins are mainly supported to use external authentication sources instead of MariaDB authentication. We tried the unix_socket plugin as an example in order to show how to use the system authentication. PAM authentication is also supported. It is also possible to limit the actions that a user can execute in an hour, preventing them from using too many resources.

It is possible for a user to connect via SSL or use an authentication plugin. This requirement can always be valid or may only apply when the user connects from certain hosts. This is possible because MariaDB permissions are based on accounts, a combination of username and hostname. The LIKE operator's wildcards can be used to match a few permissions to multiple usernames or hostnames.

MariaDB supports two thread handling methods: one thread per connection is the one that was historically used in MySQL, and pool of threads is a new method...