MySQL on Windows

[Venkatesh]

Hello everybody,

I have been running Apache 1.3.31 on Windows for quite some time now, and I am happy with the results. Apache on Windows isnt as fast as under Unix(ish) OSes, but it is very stable.

I want to create a database system for my site now. The machine is old (Pentium 166MHz, 64MB RAM). Should I put MySQL on that machine itself, or set up a second system as a database server?

If I were to go with the second machine, the system would be a Pentium 233MHz, 160MB RAM. Should I load Linux on this second machine or Windows? Is MySQL really useable under Windows?

Thanks.

[Astronouth7303]

My dad says you should be ok, but a little short on RAM.

[Ryan M.]

Originally Posted by Astronouth7303

My dad says you should be ok, but a little short on RAM.

On the dedicated or the one with Apache?

[Raven_Writer]

I've ran MySQL 3.x on a pretty old system (forgot the specs...it's basically trashed now), but it ran pretty good. I didn't run into any problems, and it had Win98 installed on it.

[Astronouth7303]

Originally Posted by Texan

On the dedicated or the one with Apache?

yes. I mean, I read it to my mom who relayed it to my dad and that's what he said.

[Max Lobovsky]

Well if its gonna be a dedicated MySQL box, use linux. I can't say from personal experience, but all the statistics and tests show that this is one of the applications where one really should, and people really do, use linux.

[Timothy D. Ginn]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

I want to create a database system for my site now. The machine is old (Pentium 166MHz, 64MB RAM). Should I put MySQL on that machine itself, or set up a second system as a database server?

If I were to go with the second machine, the system would be a Pentium 233MHz, 160MB RAM. Should I load Linux on this second machine or Windows? Is MySQL really useable under Windows?

Thanks.

Depending on whether it's just light databasing or not, you may also want to look into SQLite:
http://www.sqlite.org/
See also: http://www.php.net/sqlite

Personally, if I were you and I were running MySQL, I'd run it on Linux... it just seems easier that way. I've successfully run MySQL on machines of system stats lower than the one you're looking at for databasing, so you should be fine. If you're installing Linux, remove what you don't need (but that's always good advice, anyway).

That said, MySQL is usable on Windows, and I've done so before. I haven't really gone beyond testing openFIRST with it (which was the reason I set up MySQL, for compatibility testing of openFIRST with Windows and various version combinations of webserver/PHP/database), though I know of other people who have.

[edit]
P.S. Maybe I should start following you around and answering your questions, I seem to be doing a fair bit of that lately, anyway.