mysql 5.1 is nearing release, with the present release candidate
5.1.24.
The most important new feature, in my eyes, is the new
partitioning capability. When I get some time, I will write up a
more complete post on my experiences so far with 5.1
partitioning, but I am going to try to keep the turnover on posts
a bit higher, and post smaller things on here more regularly.
Partitioning has the potential to make large tables in mysql
manageable once again. This is music to the ears of anyone that
has had the misfortune of having to learn, the hard way, about
MyISAM’s often painfully slow “Repair by keycache” loading and
repairing of large tables with unique keys. Add that to MyISAM’s
propensity to table corruption, especially with large tables, and
you have a ticking timebomb on many pre-5.1 servers out there. If
you are lucky, you can repair a …
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