In older versions of MySQL, access to the key cache was serialized, and no two threads could access key cache buffers simultaneously. However, in MySQL 5.0, the server supports shared access to the key cache:
A buffer that is not being updated can be accessed by multiple threads.
A buffer that is being updated causes threads that need to use it to wait until the update is complete.
Multiple threads can initiate requests that result in cache block replacements, as long as they do not interfere with each other (that is, as long as they need different index blocks, and thus cause different cache blocks to be replaced).
Shared access to the key cache allows the server to improve throughput significantly.
Ésta es una traducción del manual de referencia de MySQL, que puede encontrarse en dev.mysql.com. El manual de referencia original de MySQL está escrito en inglés, y esta traducción no necesariamente está tan actualizada como la versión original. Para cualquier sugerencia sobre la traducción y para señalar errores de cualquier tipo, no dude en dirigirse a mysql-es@vespito.com.