Differences between INNODB abd MYISAM Database
- InnoDB uses row locking, MyISAM uses table locking.
- InnoDB is slower when it comes to SELECT
- InnoDB enforces referential integrit
- InnoDB allows transactions
- MyISAM allows full text search Indexes where as InnoDB does not allows that
- You will find better crash recovery in InnoDB.
| MyISAM | Innodb |
|---|---|
| Not *ACID compliant and non-transactional | *ACID compliant and hence fully transactional with ROLLBACK and COMMIT and support for Foreign Keys |
| MySQL 5.0 Default Engine | Rackspace Cloud Default Engine |
| Offers Compression | Offers Compression |
| Requires full repair/rebuild of indexes/tables | Auto recovery from crash via replay of logs |
| Changed Db pages written to disk instantly | Dirty pages converted from random to sequential before commit and flush to disk |
| No ordering in storage of data | Row data stored in pages in PK order |
| Table level locking | Row level locking |