I am constantly referring to the amazing MySQL manual, especially the option and variable reference table. But just as frequently, I want to look up blog posts on variables, or look for content in the Percona documentation or forums. So I present to you what is now my newest Firefox toolbar bookmark: an option and [...]
Lost innodb tables, xfs and binary grep
Before I start a story about the data recovery case I worked on yesterday, here’s a quick tip – having a database backup does not mean you can restore from it. Always verify your backup can be used to restore the database! If not automatically, do this manually, at least once a month. No, seriously [...]
How innodb_open_files affects performance
Recently I looked at table_cache sizing which showed larger table cache does not always provides the best performance. So I decided to look at yet another similar variable – innodb_open_files which defines how many files Innodb will keep open while working in innodb_file_per_table mode. Unlike MyISAM Innodb does not have to keep open file descriptor [...]
Learning about MySQL Table Fragmentation
Recently I was working with the customer who need quick warmup – to get Innodb table fetched in memory as fast as possible to get good in memory access performance. To do it I run the query: “SELECT count(*) FROM tbl WHERE non_idx_col=0″ I use this particular form of query because it will do full [...]
MySQL File System Fragmentation Benchmarks
Few days ago I wrote about testing writing to many files and seeing how this affects sequential read performance. I was very interested to see how it shows itself with real tables so I’ve got the script and ran tests for MyISAM and Innodb tables on ext3 filesystem. Here is what I found:
What is the longest part of Innodb Recovery Process ?
In MySQL 4.1 and above the longest part of recovery after crash for Innodb tables could be UNDO stage – it was happening in foreground and was basically unbound – if you have large enough transaction which needed to be undone this could take long hours. REDO stage on other hand always could be regulated [...]

