My previous experience with tuning MySQL servers was that you should start with the example my.conf that most closely matches your hardware and then Google around for the little tweaks that others have reportedly had good luck with. Definitive step-by-step guides on exactly what settings to change and why have historically been a little bit hard to come by. I guess thats what the MySQL DBAs get paid for, huh?
Well now there are a couple of scripts out there that will examine your server’s runtime statistics and provide you with advice on what to change (kind of like what Bastille does for Linux).
- Tuning Primer by Matthew Montgomery
- MySQL Tuner by Major Hayden
Either one of this scripts will likely save you hours of Googling/experimenting. Both do essentially the same thing, but it never hurts to have a 2nd opinion. And if you’re still not sure about something, a trip to MySQL Performance Blog should fix you right up.