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I'm gonna install MySQL 5.5 in a virtual Windows Server. I'd like to have the data in an separate partition (it may be in a different virtual disk) than the system one. I'm considering two options:
Install MySQL in the default installation path ("C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL"), create the data folder in the "D:\mysqldata" and modify the "my.cnf" to point to the new folder
Install MySQL in directly in "D:\mysql"
Are there any difference between then? Is there a recommended approach?
I do not think that the location matters rather it is a matter of personal preference, and the MySQL installer will automatically update the my.cnf file for you.
However I would rather go with D:\mysql as the installation directory because its lowercase, has no special characters (spaces, capital letters) and is not in the Program Files directory which you may need to clean out for a new install or upgrade.
You may also need to add the D:\mysql\bin directory to the PATH environment variable so that you can run the MySQL commands from any command prompt
