Check your database for orphaned tables
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 7:23 am
- MySQL is one of the most popular database management systems for web servers. If you have a WordPress website, chances are it uses MySQL as its database. That makes it essential for you to understand how to complete a MySQL performance tune.
By “tuning” MySQL, we mean optimizing your database so that the software can respond to queries more quickly. Ultimately, that can lead to shorter loading times and a snappier website overall. Plus, if you maintain your database properly, it should continue to offer high performance even as its size grows.
In this article, we'll give a brief overview of what MySQL is and how it works. Next, we'll explore how to perform a MySQL performance tune-up using four essential tips.
Let's get to it!
Relational databases – This type of database divides information into tables. Using the relational model, you can connect data from multiple tables using “keys,” or unique identifiers.
Client-server model – With this model, your database resides on the server, and your website is the client. Browsers make requests to your website, which in turn queries the database.
Since MySQL is open source software, there are many forks available. At Kinsta, for example, we use MariaDB , which is a fork of MySQL. We decided to use MariaDB because it offers better performance azerbaijan phone number data than its parent software.
If you're a Kinsta user, you don't have to worry about MySQL performance tuning as we've taken care of it for you .
However, learning how to make MySQL run faster on your own is still a valuable skill, especially if your web host doesn't take care of optimization for you. Let's talk about what that optimization entails.
4 Tips for MySQL Performance Tuning
If you're using WordPress and want to learn how to make MySQL run faster, you'll want to avoid focusing on specific settings. Instead, you'll want to tune your database to fit the way you use WordPress. Let's talk about what that means.
1. Keep your MySQL version up to date
Most web hosts will automatically update MySQL to the latest version for you. However, if you have full control over your server, you will have to manually update your database management system. Since you use WordPress, you probably understand the benefits of keeping your software up to date. Tuning MySQL performance has many benefits, such as:
Newer versions patch security holes in the software.
The latest versions of MySQL are better optimized and faster.
Faster database management software directly translates into faster loading times. However, you may not know which version of MySQL you are using. If you have full access to your server, you can launch the command line and run the following command: