Magento and innodb_buffer_pool_size =2G when Data is only 500M

Question

Magento white-paper recommends innodb_buffer_pool_size be set at 50% to 80% of my servers 4G ram. Is this really necessary when my Magento database has only 500M table data and 500M Indexes ?

I know other variables need to be considered, but setting innodb_buffer_pool_size = 2G seams a bit excessive...! I'm i correct?

Answer 1

http://www.mysqlperformanceblog.com/2007/11/03/choosing-innodb_buffer_pool_size/

"This of course assumes your database is large so you need large buffer pool, if not – setting buffer pool a bit larger than your database size will be enough."

so basically yeah, if your innodb data(tables,indexes,etc.) are far less than 2G, you aren't gaining performance with the higher setting.

Answer 2

nope, this suggestion is not dependent of the size of your dataset but rather tied to performance and resources available for innodb to perform faster/best