On 2014-04-08 09:44, keith smith wrote:

I have a MySql database that is about 10 years old. The tables are
using the MyISAM data engine.  As I look around it seems the
InnoDB data engine is such a better deal.  I am thinking that a
switch to InnoDB might be the way to go

If you're using fulltext search in any of your columns, you'll probably have to find another way of doing that, like sphinx.  You can't really do fulltext search with InnoDB.  If you're not doing fulltext search, then the row-level locking that InnoDB provides makes inserts and updates a lot faster.

Is there anything I should be aware of or any potential problems in
using InnoDB with MySql versions prior to 5.5.5?

I've used a bunch of InnoDB tables on a bunch of mysql DBs going back to 5.0.51, and never had any problems with InnoDB in and of itself.  (Disks dying, clusters split-braining, running out of disk space, people doing DROP DATABASE on production data, and so forth caused far more pain than anything InnoDB.)  The main thing I'd worry about is that it can take hours to convert huge tables from MyISAM to InnoDB if your machine's got any sort of CPU or I/O bottleneck, and while that conversion's going on, the table's unusable.  If you can schedule enough downtime, you'll probably be just fine.

--
Crow202 Blog: http://crow202.org/wordpress
There is no Darkness in Eternity
But only Light too dim for us to see.
---------------------------------------------------
PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings:
http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss