Is the MySQL binlog similar to Oracle's redo log or PostgreSQL's Write-Ahead Log?
If yes, how come it be possible to disable bin logging? If the machine crashes while the data files are being updated, how will the RDBMS be able to rollback the changes (or otherwise restore the data files to a consistent state) without the binlog?
The manual says that "Certain data recovery operations require use of the binary log," but it's not entirely clear which. If I don't have replication and incremental backups, is it safe to disable the binlog?
The reason I'm asking these questions is that in a Nextcloud deployment I have trouble with disk performance, and I've found out that during heavy usage MySQL is writing to the disk (to the binlog) at a rate equal to the size of the database per minute. So I'm trying to understand what's going on in order to address the problem.