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I have used mysql for a few years, but I am starting to get pretty intensive in my use of it now. So, I need to ask some basic questions about using it on a large scale.
1. Index - It am guessing it is a good idea to setup an index. I did so, but now I am not exactly certain how to use it. Does mysql know to use the index whenever I search for something in the field specified as the index? I am really not clear on how this helps. Can someone clarify this for me?
2. Optomization - How often shoud I optomize, check, repair, and flush the table? Should these be done in any particular order? Should any of these NOT be done? Is there a way to automate this process?
3. Structure - Is there a resource I might use to learn the fundamentals of what is a good structure for a database? Something that explains everything in fairly non technical lingo, since I haven't been formally instructed on any of this.
4. Is there a limit (rows, fields, index size, total size, concurrent searches) to keep in mind? Meaning, is there a threshold after which mysql becomes slow?
5. Are there any tips, tricks, shortcuts that I should keep in mind when running mysql?
One final thing. When I imported a csv file into my database, it did something funny. On any of the entries that my php script input, another script was able to find them using the SELECT * = WHEN. However, after I imported the data from csv, it would only work when the script used the LIKE %%. Did I mess something up there? When I compared two rows from those two groups, I saw nothing different. It's almost as though there is an invisible character somewhere in the csv file.
Thanks for your help in advance.
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