Re: INSERT performance on MyISAM (Record Size vs. Field Count)

[Ingo Strüwing]

Hi.

This is a great test sequence. Though I don't feel like an performance expert, I'll share some guesses.

In my impression your tests show that the number of columns count, but also number columns are slower than strings. The problem here might be that MySQL needs to convert the numbers to strings for sending them to the server and convert the strings to numbers for storage. If you could do the number to string conversion in your client code, you may save one conversion.

You did not mention if you are using fixed length records. Your column list sounds as if it should be possible to change to fixed length records. The waste of space could pay off in performance.

Another simplification could be to use NOT NULL columns wherever possible.

If this all does not help enough, you may need to think of a design with less columns. Normalize, if possible.

Regards
Ingo

Ingo Strüwing, Senior Software Developer - Storage Engines
MySQL AB, www.mysql.com