MySQL offers dozens of settings and parameters that administrators can use to control all aspects of their database servers. The next few chapters examine these settings from a system response perspective. They also cite any server-generated status messages that can help us understand our environment's unique performance profile.
Chapter 10 delves into a collection of parameters that are useful regardless of your choice of database storage engine. Chapter 11, "MyISAM Performance Enhancement," provides focus on settings of interest to users and administrators of the MyISAM engine, followed by Chapter 12, "InnoDB Performance Enhancement," which is dedicated to the InnoDB server. Since disk access is crucial to a well-performing database platform, Chapter 13, "Improving Disk Speed," will examine ways to keep this vital component in tune. Chapter 14, "Operating System, Web Server, and Connectivity Tuning," takes a look at how MySQL interacts with your operating system, web server, and network, while Chapter 15, "Improving Import and Export Operations," is a discussion on improving import and export performance.
Finally, while the book always tries to prescribe the best possible settings for these parameters, please understand that it's usually not possible to make a hard-and-fast recommendation. There are numerous reasons for this, not the least of which is that every MySQL-based application and environment is unique. What works for one situation will be anathema to another. Therefore, this book tries to explain what these parameters do and how you can take advantage of them; the actual settings will vary and are best tested in your own environment.
