How do you optimize your database

[Halyn]

I am running a small web application. My problem is that it takes a lot of time to perform any tasks. This is affecting me a lot in several ways. I want to optimize my database. How should I proceed? What all measures do I need to consider in the process of optimization?

[MindSpace]

There are several points that should be taken care while optimizing the database. First thing is that always use a WHERE clause to narrow the number of rows returned. Avoid using asterisks (*) since because it returns you all column values in a query, instead use the column name which you want. Try use DISTINCT clause in your query. It allows you to return only unique row values by removing all the duplicates.

[!const]

phpMyAdmin is the best tool for you. It is an open source tool written in PHP intended to handle the administration of MySQL over the World Wide Web. It can perform various tasks such as creating, modifying or deleting databases, tables, fields or rows; executing SQL statements; or managing users and permissions. It can perform analysis, repair and optimization tasks for your database.

[Praetor]

Keep your tables and queries simple with minimum columns which will finally result in limited calculations. Try to include TOP operator in your query which returns only a certain number or percentage of items in the query. It has been seen that people keep some unnecessary codes that simply does nothing. Always monitor your codes, database and queries and delete anything that is not required. At last put a higher module of RAM in the server to fasten the speed of operations.