4

I have a simple table with two columns: id (autonumber) and name (char(255).

When I use C# to insert 100 records in a loop it takes about 30 milliseconds per insert. This is way too slow. So I browsed around on this site and found this setting:

set global innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 2;

Now the inserts are as fast as SQL Server: .2 millisecond, or about 100 times faster than with the default setting.

But I've read that with setting innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit to 2 you lose ACID compliance.

These are my measurements:

  • MySql InnoDB innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 1: 30 ms per insert.
  • MySql InnoDB innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 2: 0.2 ms per insert.
  • Sql Server: 0.2 ms per insert.

I have a few questions:

  • Is the default setting for Sql Server comparable to "innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 1" or to "innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 2"?
  • Is there any other way to speed up MySql InnoDB which doesn't have influence on ACID compliance?
  • Do you guys feel my measurements for the default InnoDB settings are correct? I almost can't believe MySql is 100 times slower than SQL Server for inserts?

Update 1

This is the contenct of the my.ini file:

# Other default tuning values
# MySQL Server Instance Configuration File
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Generated by the MySQL Server Instance Configuration Wizard
#
#
# Installation Instructions
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# On Linux you can copy this file to /etc/my.cnf to set global options,
# mysql-data-dir/my.cnf to set server-specific options
# (@localstatedir@ for this installation) or to
# ~/.my.cnf to set user-specific options.
#
# On Windows you should keep this file in the installation directory 
# of your server (e.g. C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server X.Y). To
# make sure the server reads the config file use the startup option 
# "--defaults-file". 
#
# To run run the server from the command line, execute this in a 
# command line shell, e.g.
# mysqld --defaults-file="C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server X.Y\my.ini"
#
# To install the server as a Windows service manually, execute this in a 
# command line shell, e.g.
# mysqld --install MySQLXY --defaults-file="C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server X.Y\my.ini"
#
# And then execute this in a command line shell to start the server, e.g.
# net start MySQLXY
#
#
# Guildlines for editing this file
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# In this file, you can use all long options that the program supports.
# If you want to know the options a program supports, start the program
# with the "--help" option.
#
# More detailed information about the individual options can also be
# found in the manual.
#
# For advice on how to change settings please see
# http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.6/en/server-configuration-defaults.html
#
#
# CLIENT SECTION
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# The following options will be read by MySQL client applications.
# Note that only client applications shipped by MySQL are guaranteed
# to read this section. If you want your own MySQL client program to
# honor these values, you need to specify it as an option during the
# MySQL client library initialization.
#
[client]
no-beep

# pipe
# socket=0.0
port=3306

[mysql]

default-character-set=utf8


# SERVER SECTION
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# The following options will be read by the MySQL Server. Make sure that
# you have installed the server correctly (see above) so it reads this 
# file.
#
# server_type=3
[mysqld]

# The next three options are mutually exclusive to SERVER_PORT below.
# skip-networking

# enable-named-pipe

# shared-memory

# shared-memory-base-name=MYSQL

# The Pipe the MySQL Server will use
# socket=MYSQL

# The TCP/IP Port the MySQL Server will listen on
port=3306

# Path to installation directory. All paths are usually resolved relative to this.
# basedir="C:/Program Files/MySQL/MySQL Server 5.6/"

# Path to the database root
datadir=C:/ProgramData/MySQL/MySQL Server 5.6/Data

# The default character set that will be used when a new schema or table is
# created and no character set is defined
character-set-server=utf8

# The default storage engine that will be used when create new tables when
default-storage-engine=INNODB

# Set the SQL mode to strict
sql-mode="STRICT_TRANS_TABLES,NO_AUTO_CREATE_USER,NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION"

# Enable Windows Authentication
# plugin-load=authentication_windows.dll

# General and Slow logging.
log-output=FILE
general-log=0
general_log_file="HP-L-08.log"
slow-query-log=1
slow_query_log_file="HP-L-08-slow.log"
long_query_time=10

# Binary Logging.
# log-bin

# Error Logging.
log-error="HP-L-08.err"

# Server Id.
server-id=1

# The maximum amount of concurrent sessions the MySQL server will
# allow. One of these connections will be reserved for a user with
# SUPER privileges to allow the administrator to login even if the
# connection limit has been reached.
max_connections=151

# Query cache is used to cache SELECT results and later return them
# without actual executing the same query once again. Having the query
# cache enabled may result in significant speed improvements, if your
# have a lot of identical queries and rarely changing tables. See the
# "Qcache_lowmem_prunes" status variable to check if the current value
# is high enough for your load.
# Note: In case your tables change very often or if your queries are
# textually different every time, the query cache may result in a
# slowdown instead of a performance improvement.
query_cache_size=0

# The number of open tables for all threads. Increasing this value
# increases the number of file descriptors that mysqld requires.
# Therefore you have to make sure to set the amount of open files
# allowed to at least 4096 in the variable "open-files-limit" in
# section [mysqld_safe]
table_open_cache=2000

# Maximum size for internal (in-memory) temporary tables. If a table
# grows larger than this value, it is automatically converted to disk
# based table This limitation is for a single table. There can be many
# of them.
tmp_table_size=121M

# How many threads we should keep in a cache for reuse. When a client
# disconnects, the client's threads are put in the cache if there aren't
# more than thread_cache_size threads from before.  This greatly reduces
# the amount of thread creations needed if you have a lot of new
# connections. (Normally this doesn't give a notable performance
# improvement if you have a good thread implementation.)
thread_cache_size=10

#*** MyISAM Specific options
# The maximum size of the temporary file MySQL is allowed to use while
# recreating the index (during REPAIR, ALTER TABLE or LOAD DATA INFILE.
# If the file-size would be bigger than this, the index will be created
# through the key cache (which is slower).
myisam_max_sort_file_size=100G

# If the temporary file used for fast index creation would be bigger
# than using the key cache by the amount specified here, then prefer the
# key cache method.  This is mainly used to force long character keys in
# large tables to use the slower key cache method to create the index.
myisam_sort_buffer_size=231M

# Size of the Key Buffer, used to cache index blocks for MyISAM tables.
# Do not set it larger than 30% of your available memory, as some memory
# is also required by the OS to cache rows. Even if you're not using
# MyISAM tables, you should still set it to 8-64M as it will also be
# used for internal temporary disk tables.
key_buffer_size=8M

# Size of the buffer used for doing full table scans of MyISAM tables.
# Allocated per thread, if a full scan is needed.
read_buffer_size=64K
read_rnd_buffer_size=256K

# This buffer is allocated when MySQL needs to rebuild the index in
# REPAIR, OPTIMZE, ALTER table statements as well as in LOAD DATA INFILE
# into an empty table. It is allocated per thread so be careful with
# large settings.
sort_buffer_size=256K

#*** INNODB Specific options ***
# innodb_data_home_dir=0.0

# Use this option if you have a MySQL server with InnoDB support enabled
# but you do not plan to use it. This will save memory and disk space
# and speed up some things.
# skip-innodb

# Additional memory pool that is used by InnoDB to store metadata
# information.  If InnoDB requires more memory for this purpose it will
# start to allocate it from the OS.  As this is fast enough on most
# recent operating systems, you normally do not need to change this
# value. SHOW INNODB STATUS will display the current amount used.
innodb_additional_mem_pool_size=17M

# If set to 1, InnoDB will flush (fsync) the transaction logs to the
# disk at each commit, which offers full ACID behavior. If you are
# willing to compromise this safety, and you are running small
# transactions, you may set this to 0 or 2 to reduce disk I/O to the
# logs. Value 0 means that the log is only written to the log file and
# the log file flushed to disk approximately once per second. Value 2
# means the log is written to the log file at each commit, but the log
# file is only flushed to disk approximately once per second.
innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit=1

# The size of the buffer InnoDB uses for buffering log data. As soon as
# it is full, InnoDB will have to flush it to disk. As it is flushed
# once per second anyway, it does not make sense to have it very large
# (even with long transactions).
innodb_log_buffer_size=9M

# InnoDB, unlike MyISAM, uses a buffer pool to cache both indexes and
# row data. The bigger you set this the less disk I/O is needed to
# access data in tables. On a dedicated database server you may set this
# parameter up to 80% of the machine physical memory size. Do not set it
# too large, though, because competition of the physical memory may
# cause paging in the operating system.  Note that on 32bit systems you
# might be limited to 2-3.5G of user level memory per process, so do not
# set it too high.
innodb_buffer_pool_size=772M

# Size of each log file in a log group. You should set the combined size
# of log files to about 25%-100% of your buffer pool size to avoid
# unneeded buffer pool flush activity on log file overwrite. However,
# note that a larger logfile size will increase the time needed for the
# recovery process.
innodb_log_file_size=48M

# Number of threads allowed inside the InnoDB kernel. The optimal value
# depends highly on the application, hardware as well as the OS
# scheduler properties. A too high value may lead to thread thrashing.
innodb_thread_concurrency=17

# The increment size (in MB) for extending the size of an auto-extend InnoDB system tablespace file when it becomes full.
innodb_autoextend_increment=64

# The number of regions that the InnoDB buffer pool is divided into.
# For systems with buffer pools in the multi-gigabyte range, dividing the buffer pool into separate instances can improve concurrency,
# by reducing contention as different threads read and write to cached pages.
innodb_buffer_pool_instances=8

# Determines the number of threads that can enter InnoDB concurrently.
innodb_concurrency_tickets=5000

# Specifies how long in milliseconds (ms) a block inserted into the old sublist must stay there after its first access before
# it can be moved to the new sublist.
innodb_old_blocks_time=1000

# It specifies the maximum number of .ibd files that MySQL can keep open at one time. The minimum value is 10.
innodb_open_files=300

# When this variable is enabled, InnoDB updates statistics during metadata statements.
innodb_stats_on_metadata=0

# When innodb_file_per_table is enabled (the default in 5.6.6 and higher), InnoDB stores the data and indexes for each newly created table
# in a separate .ibd file, rather than in the system tablespace.
innodb_file_per_table=1

# Use the following list of values: 0 for crc32, 1 for strict_crc32, 2 for innodb, 3 for strict_innodb, 4 for none, 5 for strict_none.
innodb_checksum_algorithm=0

# The number of outstanding connection requests MySQL can have.
# This option is useful when the main MySQL thread gets many connection requests in a very short time.
# It then takes some time (although very little) for the main thread to check the connection and start a new thread.
# The back_log value indicates how many requests can be stacked during this short time before MySQL momentarily
# stops answering new requests.
# You need to increase this only if you expect a large number of connections in a short period of time.
back_log=80

# If this is set to a nonzero value, all tables are closed every flush_time seconds to free up resources and
# synchronize unflushed data to disk.
# This option is best used only on systems with minimal resources.
flush_time=0

# The minimum size of the buffer that is used for plain index scans, range index scans, and joins that do not use
# indexes and thus perform full table scans.
join_buffer_size=256K

# The maximum size of one packet or any generated or intermediate string, or any parameter sent by the
# mysql_stmt_send_long_data() C API function.
max_allowed_packet=4M

# If more than this many successive connection requests from a host are interrupted without a successful connection,
# the server blocks that host from performing further connections.
max_connect_errors=100

# Changes the number of file descriptors available to mysqld.
# You should try increasing the value of this option if mysqld gives you the error "Too many open files".
open_files_limit=4161

# Set the query cache type. 0 for OFF, 1 for ON and 2 for DEMAND.
query_cache_type=0

# If you see many sort_merge_passes per second in SHOW GLOBAL STATUS output, you can consider increasing the
# sort_buffer_size value to speed up ORDER BY or GROUP BY operations that cannot be improved with query optimization
# or improved indexing.
sort_buffer_size=256K

# The number of table definitions (from .frm files) that can be stored in the definition cache.
# If you use a large number of tables, you can create a large table definition cache to speed up opening of tables.
# The table definition cache takes less space and does not use file descriptors, unlike the normal table cache.
# The minimum and default values are both 400.
table_definition_cache=1400

# Specify the maximum size of a row-based binary log event, in bytes.
# Rows are grouped into events smaller than this size if possible. The value should be a multiple of 256.
binlog_row_event_max_size=8K

# If the value of this variable is greater than 0, a replication slave synchronizes its master.info file to disk.
# (using fdatasync()) after every sync_master_info events.
sync_master_info=10000

# If the value of this variable is greater than 0, the MySQL server synchronizes its relay log to disk.
# (using fdatasync()) after every sync_relay_log writes to the relay log.
sync_relay_log=10000

# If the value of this variable is greater than 0, a replication slave synchronizes its relay-log.info file to disk.
# (using fdatasync()) after every sync_relay_log_info transactions.
sync_relay_log_info=10000

transaction-isolation = READ-COMMITTED

Update 2

This is the C# code inserting 100 records:

var mySqlConnection = new MySqlConnection(connectionString);
mySqlConnection.Open();

for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++)
{
   var guid = Guid.NewGuid();
   var cmd = mySqlConnection.CreateCommand();

   cmd.CommandText = "insert into speedtest (Name) values (@name);";

   var name = new MySqlParameter
                  {
                      MySqlDbType = MySqlDbType.String,
                      ParameterName = "name",
                      Value = guid.ToString()
                  };

    cmd.Parameters.Add(name);

    cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
    cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
}

mySqlConnection.Close();

The code for the inserts into SQL Server is identical

Update 3

The C# code, MySql and Sql Server are all running on my laptop.

2
  • 2
    There's nowhere near enough information here. As a starting point - can you include all the innodb my.cnf settings you've got? Commented Nov 28, 2014 at 11:29
  • Updated with the content of my.in
    – user53095
    Commented Nov 28, 2014 at 12:10

1 Answer 1

3

Is the default setting for Sql Server comparable to "innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 1" or to "innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 2"?

No. Assuming similar hardware, SQL Server should be just as slow as MySQL, since both would have to flush the commit for every row. Therefore there must be something else at play, very likely in the (not posted) C# code you use for your 'test'. Batch commit (a single xact spanning all 100 rows) would explain the behavior.

Note that SQL Server does have an equivalent of setting flush_log_at_trx_commit, namely Delayed durability. This is onyl available in SQL Server 2014 and forward, and must be explicitly configured.

The C# code, MySql and Sql Server are all running on my laptop.

Does your laptop do Write caching? If so, you must repeat your tests with the write caching off, as is not supported.

4
  • I've added the C# code. The code is identical for both databases.
    – user53095
    Commented Nov 28, 2014 at 12:39
  • I now have turned off write caching, but that makes the SQL Server inserts 30 - 40 times slower, but still four to five times faster than MySql. The MySql inserts are still as fast/slow as with write caching turned on.
    – user53095
    Commented Nov 28, 2014 at 13:17
  • 4x, 5x could be explained by engine differences. I suspect MySQL is using an API that forces flush even when write cache is on. Therefore only SQL benefits from write cache, disturbing the result. You should expect the performance of having write cache off in production, or give up ACID durability guarantees. There are ways to get back the perf loss (batch commit, bigger transactions etc). Commented Nov 28, 2014 at 13:36
  • 2
    Actually a quick search will quickly confirm that indeed MySQL does force a disk flush even when write cache is on. Commented Nov 28, 2014 at 13:51

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