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MyISAM vs InnoDB vs Something else

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 1:16 am
by GeXus
I'm working on an ad server that needs to store impressions for all the ads, we're talking hundreds of millions of rows. Each row has 4 int columns and a date column. What storage method would you say is optimal for this? Not only does it have to just insert the records, but also do counts and lookups for reporting... there's also the option of storing on the file system... but I just don't know which would be best... any feedback would be great! Thanks!

Re: MyISAM vs InnoDB vs Something else

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 10:04 am
by bdlang
When all else fails, RTFM. ;)

Seriously, though, MyISAM should be fine; the only reason I'd typically choose InnoDB instead is if I require the use of transactions. Read the differences between them in the manual as posted and kick it around the office. Make sure you also read the section on optimization, especially the section marked 'optimizing database structure' and use the appropriate indexes.

Re: MyISAM vs InnoDB vs Something else

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 12:55 pm
by GeXus
Thanks, those links were actually very helpful!

Re: MyISAM vs InnoDB vs Something else

Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:38 am
by pickle
InnoDB, I've heard, is superior when the number of reads vastly outweighs the number of writes, and you've got multiple millions of rows. It sounds like you're going to have more writes than reads though, so I'd stick with MyISAM.

MySQL also has a bunch more tools that work on MyISAM tables & don't on InnoDB. Just don't ask me to list them...