myisam

[FireFoxtrot]

When i create my databases i use myisam as the type but im not really sure why as someone had told me before that this is the best option to choose. What is the benefit to using this and how does it differ from the other types?

[md_doc]

The two main database types to select from for MySQL are MyISAM or INNO DB.

The main differences are MyISAM allows for MySQL specific features like FULLTEXT searching which some people find very useful. You can also easily back up and other things with MyISAM.

INNO DB on the other hand does row level locking instead of table level locking like MyISAM tables do. So if you have a site that does a lot of locking and gets a lot of traffic INNO DB is probably the way to go (Think of applications like phpAdsNew). You lose MySQL specific features though like FULLTEXT searching.

[BigAlReturns]

InnoDB allows you to use transactions - these ensure data integrity when many users could be accessing the db at one time. This is especially important for organisations like banks etc. (although I don't imagine many of these run on MySQL to be honest!)
For the vast majority of sites, if you use the database correctly then transactions are unnecessary, so I'd usually go with MyISAM, for the advantages of fulltext searching.