MySQL's system environment

MySQL offers access to a wide array of information about the environment in which your database is stored and the variables that impact your access to it. Of particular import for programming is understanding MySQL's engines, profiles, and system variables.

ENGINE

To understand the use of MySQL's ENGINE command, it is important to first understand what MySQL means by a database storage engine. When you create a database, MySQL defaults to storing data with the MyISAM database engine. It is a transactionless database storage engine that uses the following three files:

1. A format file (.frm).

2. An index file (.MYI for MYIndex).

3. Data file (.MYD for MYData).

MyISAM is sufficiently robust for most purposes, but there are following eight others that are worth noting:

1. InnoDB: A high-performance database engine for processing large volumes of data with efficient CPU usage and the use of transactions.

2. IBMDBI: A transaction-capable database engine designed for IBM's DB2 table format...