If I consider changing my WordPress DB tables to InnoDB, will it have an effect on the way WordPress works?

I found a superb post here about optimising WordPress for large installs.

One of the steps refers to lighthttpd which sounds excellent but isn’t currently supported by DirectAdmin. Last time I messed about with a non-DA installation I managed to break my server and had to pay a professional to get it fixed…

One of its other steps is to ALTER all of my MySQL tables to use the InnoDB engine instead of MyISAM.

This appeals to me because it would appear to fix some of the major problems I’ve been having – i.e. table locks. The following is an example of my MySQL’s SHOW PROCESSLIST; including SQL statements:

| 17181 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 35117 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="boraras-brigittae" AND wp_po |
| 17182 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 35118 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT post_modified_gmt FROM wp_posts WHERE post_status="publish" AND post_type IN ('post', 'page |
| 17183 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 35117 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="boraras-brigittae" AND wp_po |
| 17184 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 35117 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="boraras-brigittae" AND wp_po |
| 17185 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 35041 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="akysis-vespa" AND wp_posts.p |
| 17186 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 35050 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('images','profiledotline-gif') A |
| 17187 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 35050 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('images','picarrow-gif') AND (po |
| 17188 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 35043 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT post_modified_gmt FROM wp_posts WHERE post_status="publish" AND post_type IN ('post', 'page |
| 17189 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 35041 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('m','marginal') AND (post_type = |
| 17190 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34989 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="piaractus-brachypomus" AND w |
| 17191 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34989 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('w','wet-dry-filter') AND (post_ |
| 17192 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34990 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS  wp_posts.ID FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_type="post" AN |
| 17193 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34954 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="corydoras-sterbai" AND wp_po |
| 17194 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34954 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="piaractus-brachypomus" AND w |
| 17195 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34955 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS  wp_posts.ID FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_type="post" AN |
| 17196 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34954 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="piaractus-brachypomus" AND w |
| 17197 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34897 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS  wp_posts.ID FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_type="post" AN |
| 17198 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34955 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS  wp_posts.ID FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_type="post" AN |
| 17199 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34898 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT post_modified_gmt FROM wp_posts WHERE post_status="publish" AND post_type IN ('post', 'page |
| 17200 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34897 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS  wp_posts.ID FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_type="post" AN |
| 17201 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34898 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('forums','lofiversion','index-ph |
| 17202 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34897 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('forums') AND (post_type="page |
| 17204 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34897 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT post_modified_gmt FROM wp_posts WHERE post_status = "publish' AND post_type IN ('post', 'page |
| 17205 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34897 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="sawbwa-resplendens" AND wp_p |
| 17206 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34897 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="badis-sp-buxar" AND wp_posts |
| 17207 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34898 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="melanotaenia-boesemani" AND  |
| 17208 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34898 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="betta-prima" AND wp_posts.po |
| 17209 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34865 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('forums') AND (post_type="page |
| 17210 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34897 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS  wp_posts.ID FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_type = "post' AN |
| 17211 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34898 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT post_modified_gmt FROM wp_posts WHERE post_status="publish" AND post_type IN ('post', 'page |
| 17213 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34864 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="piaractus-brachypomus" AND w |
| 17214 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34864 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS  wp_posts.ID FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_type="post" AN |
| 17215 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34864 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('knowledge-base') AND (post_type |
| 17216 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34865 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS  wp_posts.ID FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_type="post" AN |
| 17217 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34864 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="piaractus-brachypomus" AND w |
| 17218 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34864 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="badis-sp-buxar" AND wp_posts |
| 17219 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34864 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('forums','lofiversion','index-ph |
| 17220 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34864 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="betta-prima" AND wp_posts.po |
| 17221 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34864 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS  wp_posts.ID FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_type="post" AN |
| 17222 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34865 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="piaractus-brachypomus" AND w |
| 17223 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34864 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="piaractus-brachypomus" AND w |
| 17224 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34865 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="hemichromis-lifalili" AND wp |
| 17225 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34864 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT post_modified_gmt FROM wp_posts WHERE post_status="publish" AND post_type IN ('post', 'page |
| 17226 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34862 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="apistogramma-borellii" AND w |
| 17227 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34863 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="melanotaenia-lacustris" AND  |
| 17228 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34862 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="melanotaenia-lacustris" AND  |
| 17229 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34861 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="mikrogeophagus-altispinosus" |
| 17230 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34861 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.ID = 25503 AND wp_posts.post_type="atta |
| 17231 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34803 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name = "piaractus-brachypomus' AND w |
| 17232 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34803 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS  wp_posts.ID FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_type="post" AN |
| 17233 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34803 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('knowledge-base') AND (post_type |
| 17234 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34803 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT post_modified_gmt FROM wp_posts WHERE post_status="publish" AND post_type IN ('post', 'page |
| 17235 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34803 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('forums') AND (post_type="page |
| 17236 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34803 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS  wp_posts.ID FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_type = "post' AN |
| 17237 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34803 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('forums') AND (post_type="page |
| 17238 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34788 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ("m','migrate') AND (post_type =  |
| 17239 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34788 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="hemichromis-lifalili" AND wp |
| 17240 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34788 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT post_modified_gmt FROM wp_posts WHERE post_status="publish" AND post_type IN ('post', 'page |
| 17241 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34788 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('forums') AND (post_type="page |
| 17242 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34788 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS  wp_posts.ID FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_type = "post' AN |
| 17243 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34788 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT post_modified_gmt FROM wp_posts WHERE post_status="publish" AND post_type IN ('post', 'page |
| 17244 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34788 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('forums','lofiversion','index-ph |
| 17245 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34788 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT post_modified_gmt FROM wp_posts WHERE post_status="publish" AND post_type IN ('post', 'page |
| 17246 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34788 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT post_modified_gmt FROM wp_posts WHERE post_status="publish" AND post_type IN ('post', 'page |
| 17247 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34788 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('forums') AND (post_type="page |
| 17248 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34788 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name = "geophagus-brokopondo' AND wp |
| 17249 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34788 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT   wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_name="hyphessobrycon-amandae" AND  |
| 17253 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34788 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS  wp_posts.ID FROM wp_posts  WHERE 1=1  AND wp_posts.post_type="post" AN |
| 17255 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34786 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('knowledge-base') AND (post_type |
| 17260 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34786 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('s','silver-sand') AND (post_typ |
| 17262 | my_db | localhost | my_db | Query   | 34786 | Waiting for table level lock | SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name IN ('forums') AND (post_type="page |
| 25505 | root      | localhost | NULL      | Query   |     2 | NULL                         | SHOW PROCESSLIST   

I”ve enabled the slow-query-log and the output (having been run through an analysis script) can be found here.

However, as I’ve attempted to ALTER my tables, the following error has occurred on wp_posts: ERROR 1214 (HY000) at line 14: The used table type doesn't support FULLTEXT indexes

So, my questions are kinda three-fold, but kinda just one:

• Can I use InnoDB and keep the FULL-TEXT INDEXES that WordPress appears to use?
• Will using InnoDB help to alleviate the problems I’ve been having with table-locks?
• Can I use InnoDB without having an adverse effect on my WordPress installation?*

*I have myriad plugins including W3 Total Cache, Simple Forums, AdRotate and many more.

There’s quite a lot of information on here about switching to InnoDB

https://wordpress.stackexchange.com/search?q=innodb

There are a number of things to think about:

• InnoDB is helpful with you’re faced with contention – ie when you have tables that are being written to as well as being read
• InnoDB does not support FULLTEXT indexes so plugins that rely on that will either break or work slowly.
• You can choose which tables to convert to InnoDB – it’s not an all or nothing deal – on some of my sites, wp_comments is the only table that’s InnoDB because of the massively bursty nature of comments on those sites.

However, it sounds like you’ve got more fundamental issues that need to be sorted out before you worry about switching to InnoDB.

• you really need to log your slow queries and then EXPLAIN them to understand what’s going on – you might just need to optimise tables or add additional indexes – it’s quite likely that some of your plugins are executing queries that are forcing sequential searches on your database. Find out and add indexes to speed these up, if that’s the case.
• Once that’s done, you can then look at optimising Apache or switching to a more advanced setup (eg nginx + PHP-FPM).
• Check your caching. If the site isn’t changing much, most content should be served up from the cache instead of hitting the database. Find out why this isn’t happening.

In short, it doesn’t feel like you’ve really got to the root causes of the problem. Until you get a better handle on that, anything you do is going to be a bit random.