details about Server Parameters, which are server & which thread?

[erin oneill]

I'm working on tuning a MySQL server (one is 4.0.20, the other is 4.1.17). Each of these run on their own machines running linux with 2 GB of ram. The database uses a lot of blobs and large table rows. In searching on the various parameters there is some discrepancies over what to set which variable. What makes it difficult for me is finding out whether a parameter is a server or thread based buffer. (do I count it once or count it buffer * max_connections?)

Where in the docs can I find this info? Or, like Oracle, must I purchase another expensive book to find this info? :)

thanks,
erin