Create index in Mysql for string and datetime - mysql

I've got a table with almost 10 mill. rows and it contains a reference (varchar20) and date_created(datetime) columns. The table has two indexes on these columns.
By checking the slow_queries log, we've detected a very very slow query that is used very often:
...WHERE reference LIKE '%SOME_TEXT%' ORDER BY date_created
Now it is mandatory to improve the query time.
I've read that the best way would be a multiple index on these columns, something like this:
create index ref_date on my_table (reference, date_created)
But I would like to know if there's a better way to create this index or set a specific index type in order to make it perfect for the beforementioned query.
Thank you very much, guys!

As you suggested, we removed the starting wildcard and searches now go faster.
We also added some indexes in numeric columns, improving the overall performance. Thank you all!

Related

MySQL Index sometimes not being used

I have a table with 150k rows of data, and I have column with a UNIQUE INDEX, It has a type of VARCHAR(10) and stores 10 digit account numbers.
Now whenever I query, like a simple one:
SELECT * FROM table WHERE account_number LIKE '0103%'
It results 30,000+ ROWS, and when I run a EXPLAIN on my query It shows no INDEX is used.
But when I do:
SELECT * FROM table WHERE account_number LIKE '0104%'
It results 4,000+ ROWS, with the INDEX used.
Anyone can explain this?
I'm using MySQL 5.7 Percona XtraDB.
30k+/150k > 20% and I guess it is faster to do table scan. From 8.2.1.19 Avoiding Full Table Scans:
The output from EXPLAIN shows ALL in the type column when MySQL uses a full table scan to resolve a query. This usually happens under the following conditions:
You are using a key with low cardinality (many rows match the key value) through another column. In this case, MySQL assumes that by using the key it probably will do many key lookups and that a table scan would be faster.
If you don't need all values try to use:
SELECT account_number FROM table WHERE account_number LIKE '0103%'
instead of SELECT *. Then your index will become covering index and optimizer should always use it (as long as WHERE condition is SARGable).
The most database uses B tree for indexing. In this case the database optimizer don't use the index because its faster to scan without index. Like #lad2025 explained.
Your database column is unique and i think your cardinality of your index is high. But since your query using the like filter the database optimizer decides for you to choose not to use the index.
You can use try force index to see the result. Your using varchar with unique index. I would choose another data type or change your index type. If your table only contains numbers change it to numbers. This will help to optimize you query a lot.
In some cases when you have to use like you can use full text index.
If you need help with optimizing your query and table. Provide us more info and which info you want to fetch from your table.
lad2025 is correct. The database is attempting to make an intelligent optimization.
Benchmark with:
SELECT * FROM table FORCE INDEX(table_index) WHERE account_number LIKE '0103%'
and see who is smarter :-) You can always try your hand at questioning the optimizer. That's what index hints are for...
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/index-hints.html

10000 rows - selecting according to where clause - performance

I have a database table with 10000 rows in it and I'd like to select a few thousand items using something like the following:
SELECT id FROM models WHERE category_id = 2
EDIT: The id column is the primary index of the table. Also, the table has another index on category_id.
My question is what would be the impact on performance? Would the query run slow? Should I consider splitting my models table into separate tables (one table for each category)?
This is what database engines are designed for. Just make sure you have an index on the column that you're using in the WHERE clause.
You can try this to get the 100 records
SELECT id FROM models WHERE category_id = 2 LIMT 100
Also you can create index on that column to get the fast retrival of the result
ALTER TABLE `table` ADD INDEX `category_id ` (`category_id `)
EDIT:-
If you have index created on your columns then you dont have to worry about the performance, database engines are smart enough to take care of the performance.
My question is what would be the impact on performance? Would the
query run slow? Should I consider splitting my models table into
separate tables
No you dont have to split your tables as that would not help you in gaining performance
Im fairly new to SQL however I would first index the column
I agree with R.T.'s solution. In addition I can recommend you the link below :
https://indexanalysis.codeplex.com/
download the sql code. It's a stored procedure that helps me a lot when I want to analyze the impact of the indexes or what status they have in my database.
Please check.

Most efficient query to get last modified record in large table

I have a table with a large number of records ( > 300,000). The most relevant fields in the table are:
CREATE_DATE
MOD_DATE
Those are updated every time a record is added or updated.
I now need to query this table to find the date of the record that was modified last. I'm currently using
SELECT mod_date FROM table ORDER BY mod_date DESC LIMIT 1;
But I'm wondering if this is the most efficient way to get the answer.
I've tried adding a where clause to limit the date to the last month, but it looks like that's actually slower (and I need the most recent date, which could be older than the last month).
I've also tried the suggestion I read elsewhere to use:
SELECT UPDATE_TIME
FROM information_schema.tables
WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = 'db'
AND TABLE_NAME = 'table';
But since I might be working on a dump of the original that query might result into NULL. And it looks like this is actually slower than the original query.
I can't resort to last_insert_id() because I'm not updating or inserting.
I just want to make sure I have the most efficient query possible.
The most efficient way for this query would be to use an index for the column MOD_DATE.
From How MySQL Uses Indexes
8.3.1 How MySQL Uses Indexes
Indexes are used to find rows with specific column values quickly.
Without an index, MySQL must begin with the first row and then read
through the entire table to find the relevant rows. The larger the
table, the more this costs. If the table has an index for the columns
in question, MySQL can quickly determine the position to seek to in
the middle of the data file without having to look at all the data. If
a table has 1,000 rows, this is at least 100 times faster than reading
sequentially.
You can use
SHOW CREATE TABLE UPDATE_TIME;
to get the CREATE statement and see, if an index on MOD_DATE is defined.
To add an Index you can use
CREATE INDEX
CREATE [UNIQUE|FULLTEXT|SPATIAL] INDEX index_name
[index_type]
ON tbl_name (index_col_name,...)
[index_option]
[algorithm_option | lock_option] ...
see http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.6/en/create-index.html
Make sure that both of those fields are indexed.
Then I would just run -
select max(mod_date) from table
or create_date, whichever one.
Make sure to create 2 indexes, one on each date field, not a compound index on both.
As for a discussion of the difference between this and using limit, see MIN/MAX vs ORDER BY and LIMIT
Use EXPLAIN:
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/explain.html
This tells You how mysql executes statement, thanks to that You can figure out most efficient way, cause it depends on Your db structure and there is no one universal solution.

Two non-primary/unique indexes in a three column table

I've got a three col table. It has a unique index, and another two (for two different columnts) for faster queries.
+-------------+-------------+----------+
| category_id | related_id | position |
+-------------+-------------+----------+
Sometimes the query is
SELECT * FROM table WHERE category_id = foo
and sometimes it's
SELECT * FROM table WHERE related_id = foo
So I decided to make both category_id and related_id an index for better performance. Is this bad practice? What are the downsides of this approach?
In the case I already have 100.000 rows in that table, and am inserting another 100.000, will it be an overkill. having to refresh the index with every new insert? Would that operation then take too long? Thanks
There are no downsides if it's doing exactly what you want, you query on a specific column a lot, so you make that column indexed, that's the whole point. Now you have a 60 column table and your adding indexes to columns you never query on then you are wasting resources because those indexes need to be maintained on INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE operations.
If you have created index for each column then you will definitely get benefit out of it.
Don't go for composite indexes (Multiple coulmn indexes).
You yourself can see the advantage of index in your query by using EXPLAIN (statement provides information about how MySQL executes statements).
EXAMPLE:
EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM table WHERE category_id = foo;
Hope this will help.
~K
Its good to have indexes. Just understand that indexes would take more disk space, but faster search.
It is in your best interest to index those fields which have less repeated values. For eg. Indexing a field that contains a Boolean flag might not be a good idea.
Since in your case you are having an id, hence I think you won't be having any problem in keeping the indexes that you have created.
Also, the inserts would be slower, but since you are saving id's there won't be much of a difference in the time required to insert. Go ahead and do the insert.
My personal advice :
When you are inserting large number of rows in a single table in one go, don't insert them using a single query, unless mandatory. This would prevent your table from getting locked and inaccessible for a long time.

Use an index for a string column

If I have a query with ordering by a string column, like this...
SELECT * FROM foo ORDER BY name
...should I create an index for foo.name? (foo.name may be VARCHAR(255) or VARCHAR(400)
Obviously, you should create an index on name.
If you run queries with order_by by a column or where conditions by a columns, then those columns should be indexed.
It will increase the speed in which you get the result from any database.
But indexing should be used with caution. Too much of indexing may slow up your database.
You should index those columns which are searched frequently or ordered frequently.
Doesn't seem to affect, in MySQL with my test table. My test table is small, though. Explain revealed that Mysql has to do file sort in both the cases; with and without index.
Itz better to check your query with explain to confirm the same.