MySQL / 1 million database, = x# RAM?

I am about to buy a computer to hold a database, using MySQL, to work with a database that can at times be as high as a million entries, each entry being a title, description, author, condition, maybe a few more details.

Do I need more than 512K Ram?

1 Gig?

1 Gig is a LOT cheaper than 2 Gig, but I'd much rather have 2 Gig if I would significantly benifit from it.

Any particular desktop computers to recommend?

I'm looking at

http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3935148#detailed

or this one:

http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3954998

both from Fry's online store.

If I should spend more, I shall, but would rather not.

Any help (in addition to the great help I got about MySQL here the other day) would be very much a huge help, with my great thanks.

Features:
Intel® Pentium™ 4 Processor 3.40 GHz with Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology
1 GB PC-3200 400MHz DDR RAM (expandable to 2 GB)
800 MHz Front Side Bus
250 GB 7200rpm Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive
DVD+/-RW / CD-RW Drive - With Click to DVD Software
High-speed Internet ready with 10Base-T/100Base-TX Fast Ethernet
Personal Video Recorder powered by Sony Giga Pocket™ engine
Watch Live TV
Record Shows for Later Playback
Internet TV Programming Guide
IR Remote Control and Receiver / IR Blaster
ATI® Radeon™ 9600XT 128MB
TV-Out / VGA-Out / DVI-Out
8X AGP 3D Graphics Hardware Acceleration
Sony® Subwoofer and Stereo Speakers
Specifications:
Processor: Intel® Pentium™ 4 Processor 3.40 GHz with Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology
Cache Memory: 512 KB Integrated On-Die Level 2
Front Side Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Standard RAM: 1 GB PC-3200 400MHz DDR RAM, expandable to 2 GB
Hard Drive: 250 GB 7200rpm Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive
DVD+/-RW Drive: 8X max. write / 4X max. rewrite / 8X max. read
CD-RW Drive: 40X max. write / 12X max. rewrite / 40X max. read
Floppy Disk Drive: 3.5" 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive
Video & Graphics:
ATI Radeon 9600XT w/VGA, DVI & TV-Out
128MB Video Memory (128-bit DDR)
TV-Out / VGA-Out / DVI-Out (DVI Output: 1280x1024x60Hz max.)
8X AGP 3D Graphics Hardware Acceleration
Giga Pocket™ MPEG2 Realtime Encoder/Decoder board with TV Tuner
Audio: Creative® Soundblaster® Audigy®
Modem: V.90 Compatible data/fax modem
Ethernet: 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-TX Ethernet (RJ-45)
Expansion Slots:
Three PCI (Non-Available)
One 8x AGP (occupied by Graphics Card)
Multi-Media Card Reader (Memory Stick, Compact Flash Type I & Type II, IBM Micro Drive, and Smart Media)
Expansion Bays:
Two 5.25" Half-Height (occupied)
One External 3.5" (occupied)
Two Internal 3.5" (one occupied)
Port Connectors:
Seven USB 2.0 (three front/four rear)
One PS/2® Mouse
One PS/2® Keyboard
One VGA/DVI Monitor Port / TV-Out Port
One S/PDIF Out / One Parallel Port / One Line In
One 6pin i.LINK Port (rear) / One 4pin (front)
One Headphone / One Microphone
S-Video: Two Inputs (front and rear)
Composite Video / Audio Inputs (front and rear)
Coaxial Input (VHF/UHF)
Supplied Accessories:
Speakers (Stereo) w/Subwoofer
VAIO™ Keyboard
PS/2® Optical Mouse
IR Remote Control and Receiver / IR Blaster
Power Requirements: 100-120V ~4.7A (50/60Hz) / 295 watts max.
Power Management: ACPI 1.0 Compliant
Dimensions (CPU): 7.75"(W) x 15"(H) x 15.4"(D)
Weight (CPU): 30.86 lbs.
Service: One Year Limited Express Repair Service
Limited Warranty: One Year Parts and Labor
Telephone Support:
Hardware: One Year
Software and Operating System: 90 Days
Software:
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center 2004 Edition
Sony Original Software:
Click to DVD™ - DVD Creation
PictureGear Studio™ - Digital Photo
SonicStage® - Digital Music
DVgate™ Plus - Digital Video
VAIO Media™ - Network File Sharing
Other Software Applications:
Adobe® Premiere® LE
Adobe® Photoshop Elements®
Sony® Screenblast® Adic®
Sony® Screenblast® Sound Forge®
Intuit Quicken® 2004 New user Edition
Microsoft® Works® 7.0
Microsoft® Office® 2003 60 Day Trial
Intervideo® WinDVD®
MoodLogic® 2.5 Trail
Intuit Quicken® 2004 New user Edition
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader®
RealNetworks® RealOne™ Player
Apple QuickTime®
Online Center:
Amerlica Online#153;
Anti-Virus & Recovery Software:
Norton® Internet Security™ 90 Day Trial
VAIO Recovery Wizard
VAIO Support Agent

That above was one link $2200, and this below is the other, about 1600 dollars after rebate:

Features:
Intel® Pentium™ 4 Processor 3.20 GHz with Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology
512 MB PC-3200 400MHz DDR RAM (expandable to 2 GB)
800 MHz Front Side Bus
200 GB 7200rpm Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive
DVD+-RW / CD-RW Drive - With Click to DVD Software
High-speed Internet ready with 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-TX Fast Ethernet
Personal Video Recorder powered by Sony Giga Pocket™ engine
Watch Live TV
Record Shows for Later Playback
Internet TV Programming Guide
IR Remote Control and Receiver / IR Blaster
nVidia® GeForce™ FX 5200 128MB
TV-Out / VGA-Out / DVI-Out
8X AGP 3D Graphics Hardware Acceleration
Sony® Subwoofer and Stereo Speakers
Specifications:
Processor: Intel® Pentium™ 4 Processor 3.20 GHz with Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology
Cache Memory: 512 KB Integrated On-Die Level 2
Front Side Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Standard RAM: 512 MB PC-3200 400MHz DDR RAM, expandable to 2 GB
Hard Drive: 200 GB 7200rpm Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive
DVD+/-RW Drive: 8x max. write / 4x max. rewrite / 8x max. read
DVD-ROM Drive: 16x max. DVD-ROM Read / 40x max. CD-ROM read
Floppy Disk Drive: 3.5" 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive
Video & Graphics:
nVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 w/TV-Out
128MB Video Memory (128-bit DDR)
TV-Out / VGA-Out / DVI-Out (DVI Output: 1280x1024x60Hz max.)
8x AGP 3D Graphics Hardware Acceleration
Giga Pocket™ Engine MPEG2 Realtime Encoder/Decoder board with TV Tuner
Audio: Creative® Soundblaster® Audigy®
Modem: V.90 Compatible data/fax modem
Ethernet: 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-TX Ethernet (RJ-45)
Expansion Slots:
Three PCI (none available)
One 8x AGP (occupied by Graphics Card)
Multi-Media Card Reader (Memory Stick, Compact Flash Type I & Type II, IBM Micro Drive, and Smart Media)
Expansion Bays:
Two 5.25" Half-Height (occupied)
One External 3.5" (occupied)
Two Internal 3.5" (one occupied)
Port Connectors:
Seven USB 2.0 (three front/four rear)
One PS/2® Mouse
One PS/2® Keyboard
One VGA/DVI Monitor Port / TV-Out Port
One S/PDIF Out / One Parallel Port / One Line In
One 6pin i.LINK Port (rear) / One 4pin (front)
One Headphone / One Microphone
S-Video: Two Inputs (front and rear)
Composite Video / Audio Inputs (front and rear)
Coaxial Input (VHF/UHF)
Supplied Accessories:
Speakers (Stereo) w/Subwoofer
VAIO Smart™ Keyboard
PS/2® Optical Mouse
IR Remote Control and Receiver / IR Blaster
Power Requirements: 100-120V ~4.7A (50/60Hz) / 295 watts max.
Power Management: ACPI 1.0 Compliant
Dimensions (CPU): 7.75"(W) x 15"(H) x 15.4"(D)
Weight (CPU): 30.86 lbs.
Service: One Year Limited Express Repair Service
Limited Warranty: One Year Parts and Labor
Telephone Support:
Hardware: One Year
Software and Operating System: 90 Days
Software:
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center 2004 Edition
Sony Original Software:
Click to DVD™ - DVD Creation
PictureGear Studio™ - Digital Photo
SonicStage® - Digital Music
DVgate™ Plus - Digital Video
VAIO Media™ - Network File Sharing
Other Software Applications:
Adobe® Premiere® LE
Adobe® Photoshop Elements®
Sony® Screenblast® Acid®
Sony® Screenblast® Sound Forge®
Microsoft® Works® 7.0
Microsoft® Office® 2003 (60-day Trial)
InterVideo® WinDVD®
MoodLogic® 2.5 Trial
Intuit Quicken® 2004
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader®
Apple QuickTime®
RealNetworks® RealOne™ Player
Online Center:
America Online®
Anti-Virus & Recovery Software:
Norton® Internet Security™ (90-day Trial)
VAIO Recovery Wizard
VAIO Support Agent

Again, thank you for any help, suggestions, ideas, re-directs...

I would get a custom box. If all's your doing is running a mysql db off of it then get a solid mobo with possibly an AMD 64 and at least a gig of memory. Hard drive is to your liking but I would recommend sata. And finally there is the os. I would suggest any flavor of linux. Fedora is a nice easy to learn system. Gentoo is a bit harder to install but runs a wee bit faster. Anyways just my 0.02. Cheers.

I recommend checking newegg.com for prices

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solid mobo

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Does that mean, 'good mother board' ?

Quote:

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Hard drive is to your liking but I would recommend sata.

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Does that mean,

'Be sure to have a big hard drive (160+ Gig) and I recommend Sata,' = a brand of hard drive makers' ?

os = Operating system

Quote:

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I would suggest any flavor of linux. Fedora is a nice easy to learn system. Gentoo is a bit harder to install but runs a wee bit faster.

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My Google search tells me that Gentoo is a type of Linux.
http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/about.xml

I haven't yet asked, but the programmer I am commissioning for the project might not know how to use that.


The AMD 64 is $745.

I take it that is a superior form of what the Pentium4 does?

Thank you for helping me learn...

Superior is not a word that is used in this business.

Horses for courses is a phrase that comes to mind though.


What you need to do is this:

Sit down and work out how big 1 million entries in a mysql database means in terms of size of the table(s) and indices.

Look at the minimum and recommended specification for mysql. Look at the recommended os's on which it says it will run.


Ask yourself about each item of the specification above, "how does this feature help me run my database effficiently?" If you cannot answer the question, then it is likely you do not need the feature.

For instance "IR Remote Control and Receiver / IR Blaster" How does having remote control for watching tv or video on your machine help you run a database? Frankly I cannot think of a single reason for needing this.

Now, if you want a beast that you can watch tv on while its reindexing a million records... think of this, which is more important? The million records get indexed efficiently and in a timely fashion, or you get to watch TV?

Time for a rethink of your buying strategy in my opinion :)

NooNoo,

Thank you for your post.

Of course, the t.v. function is not of moment for my goals.

My only problem is that I'm too ignorant of how to construct a computer from that very nice site, newegg.com for instance.

While clearly the t.v. functions are an unneeded feature, if I try to buy a system part by part, let alone put it together (I might get a vacuum cleaner by the time I'm done) I'm almost certain to fail to order something important.

Like buying a car by parts, and having no idea that one needs to install a differential between the back tires.

''Radiator'? I needed one of those?'

The systems I linked / described simply were packages that had a high dollar amount, 1600 to 2100 instead of 500, and they were - I think - coming with enough parts to run the thing. I actually considered myself wise to notice pay attention to whether it came with a monitor or not.

Quote:

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Sit down and work out how big 1 million entries in a mysql database means in terms of size of the table(s) and indices.

Look at the minimum and recommended specification for mysql. Look at the recommended os's on which it says it will run.

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(gulp)

I feel like some girl who's just asked for directions, gets a complete and detailed answer.

'Thank you very much.'

Then simply heads off following the first detail of the driving instructions, having no clue at all what to do after that, but yet counting that as significant progress.

Quote:

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Sit down and work out how big 1 million entries in a mysql database means in terms of size of the table(s) and indices.

Look at the minimum and recommended specification for mysql. Look at the recommended os's on which it says it will run.

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Anyone know how if I can get 1 million entries onto MySQL using Windows?

Can the computer I buy at, say, Best Buy or Fry's do the MySQL thing on Windows, or can those computers run other operating systems?

Thanks for your help!

:)

There's a question on access that kicked all this off ? Somewhere else, I remember tablespaces .. :confused:

Just exactly where do we need to start figuring out from ? - mysql will do this & run on most o/s, but I'm just thinking support - no offence, but if we have to ask all this ... its not a novice diy project for sure anyway ..

For buying a pc to do this you want something with lots of memory(1gb+), large (pretty much everything has large but more is better) fastest (which means 'sata' or 'scsi' instead of pata/ide), but you don't need any fancy graphics ... but that's all only if we need 'fast' - who is going to use it ?

Quote:

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For buying a pc to do this you want something with lots of memory(1gb+), large (pretty much everything has large but more is better) fastest (which means 'sata' or 'scsi' instead of pata/ide), but you don't need any fancy graphics ... but that's all only if we need 'fast' - who is going to use it ?

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Just me.

I do want to thank you very much for your help.

I'm sorry about lack of knowledge, I'm not exactly sure what a 'table space' is.

I 've basically got 1 - 10 million data on books, title, author, condition, stuff like that.

All I need is fast, to be able to put it all in a tab delimitted text (whatever that is) and I don't need hardly any graphics at all.

Thanks big for your help.

Then rather than frys or [insert brand name here] go to a local mom and pop shop, 3 or 4 even and get a price for the equipment you need.

You have plumped for mysql, yet you have absolutely no idea what it is capable of. Are you getting a programmer to deal with this for you? If so, the answers about the data table sizes etc. will come from him or her.

If you have not yet engaged the services of a database administrator then mysql has a number of services which may be of help

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Originally Posted by ATAT

Just me.

I do want to thank you very much for your help.

I'm sorry about lack of knowledge, I'm not exactly sure what a 'table space' is.

I 've basically got 1 - 10 million data on books, title, author, condition, stuff like that.

All I need is fast, to be able to put it all in a tab delimitted text (whatever that is) and I don't need hardly any graphics at all.

Thanks big for your help.

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when usnig a database make multi tales and link them. Never use one table for everything.