Does the delayed key write in MySQL with MyISAM actually function if there is no key cache? Does it have it's own structures to cache the writes?
This server actually has superior performance when there is no key buffer at all, I do not completely understand why but it probably has to do with the memory being freed to linux for it's own disk cache and MySQL not having to waste cpu cycles to manage it's own duplicate key cache. I've tried small key cache, large key cache and zero always is better.
But does this mean delay_key_write is useless without a key buffer to cache the writes?
