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InnoDB: ACID compliance and transactions

InnoDB provides ACID transactions, row-level locking, and crash recovery. Use InnoDB for WordPress and relational databases.

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InnoDB is MySQL's default storage engine. It provides ACID compliance (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability), row-level locking, and crash recovery. WordPress and most modern applications use InnoDB.

InnoDB vs MyISAM

FeatureInnoDBMyISAM
Transactions✅ Yes (ACID)❌ No
Row-level locking✅ Yes❌ Table-level only
Crash recovery✅ Yes❌ Limited
Foreign keys✅ Yes❌ No
Disk spaceMore (due to overhead)Less

ACID transactions

ACID ensures data integrity:

  • Atomicity: Transaction completes fully or not at all (no partial updates)
  • Consistency: Database moves from valid state to valid state
  • Isolation: Concurrent transactions don't interfere
  • Durability: Committed data survives crashes

Check storage engine

SHOW TABLE STATUS LIKE 'table_name';
# Look for "Engine" column

Convert table to InnoDB

ALTER TABLE table_name ENGINE=InnoDB;
WordPress always uses InnoDB

WordPress expects InnoDB. MyISAM tables can cause data corruption or locking issues with concurrent users.

Related: Database locks | SQL basics

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