I really really wanted to run the latest MariaDB with LZ4 Page Compression.. it is a game changer for many types of large databases I deal with. So I compiled it manually in a way that is repeatable and follows best-practices and it's now powering this site. Now I can use InnoDB Page Compression with lzo, lzma, bzip2, snappy, or my favorite algorithm: LZ4.

Thought this would be a good chance to post a howto, and show that there is a lot you can do by compiling software yourself and breaking the package management one-click install shackles.

Unless you are a total linux-freak-guru like myself, and even if you are, it can be enormously challenging and somewhat overwhelming to locate and eliminate MySQL bottlenecks. While many DBAs focus on improving the performance of the queries themselves, this post will focus on the highest-impact items: MySQL Server Performance and OS Performance for MySQL. Specifically showing 4 awesome tools to auto-tune your MySQL and a few more tools just for monitoring!