Re: MySQL goes off periodically
> Does not mysql use innoDB by default?
?! Since 5.5.5, but you've not told us your version or,m if that's since 5.5.5, whether you honour that default.
> I did not specify the engine, so I must be using innoDB.
As above.
But inserts are based on autocommit. Does that pose a risk when flushing tables?
So there's no transaction/commit/rollback logic, so none of the available InnoDB protections are being taken advantage of.
> When you say the insert will be lost, do you mean that the server
> returns an error, and the same insert will be repeated again later?
Not without transaction programming, or error correction code that retries the Insert.