Hey all,

This seems like a silly, but rather fundamental question. Should I have many databases running inside one instance of Mysql with fewer tables in each, or should have only a few databases with many tables in each (one to many or many to one, more or less)???? Does is matter if the tables don't really relate in any way??? Since I've never quite had this perspective before (I'm a web dev, not a DBA or analyst ;-) while working with a DBMS, I'm not certain of the path to take. I've usually only had access to one or two databases at a time. Certainly, there has to be some performance issues related to this. What about maintenance, manageability, or ease of development??? Does one lend itself towards a greater level of granularity and flexibility? Is allotting one database per application an option (assuming I can discretely break things up like that)?

Thanks! DTS