So I know that the my.cnf file lets you control things like "key_buffer" and "thread_cache_size" for the application but does it directly modify the database?
At the current time I have 5 servers for my site, 4 test server and 1 live. All 5 of these servers get there information from 1 database, this keeps data uniformity but obviously there is a difference in performance between my live servers and test (live has 8gb ram and test has 1gb). So currently I'm working on my test server and have run MySQLTuner to check if there are any improvements that can be made. From what I've seen I need to make some changes to the my.cnf file. But what I want to know is how the my.cnf file effects the database if at all. Does it make changes to my database or does it just tell my server what resources to use on it.
I don't want changing the my.cnf file on a test server to have an impact on the live server or any of the other test servers I have.
If someone could clarify exactly where my changes wil be implemented I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.
.my.cnf file is mostly used for client programs.
This is not adviced using this file for server configuration.
Instead, using the my.cnf in /etc/xxx sub directory for this purpose.
Use a .my.cnf in a home directory for a user for credentials and client paramters information only.