Question

I have several large MyISAM tables (data file around 1.5 GB) which I need to optimize on a semi-regular basis because the index files are getting huge. The OPTIMIZE operation takes a really long time. The status of the query while it is running is “Repair by sorting”. How can I improve the performance of an OPTIMIZE statement? Will increasing the sort_buffer help?

Answer 1

try setting myisam_sort_buffer_size in your connection, e.g.:

set session myisam_sort_buffer_size = 52428800