How slow - if database is on another server?

Question

Hello,
I want to create a French version of my website.
The original - creme-de-languedoc .com is on a server in
Texas. Which is great for a .com. The French one is on a server in
France, which I'm told is better for .fr sites when Google.fr is
concerned.
Although the pages and images are all on the French server,
the database behind the site is still in Texas.
So far, the pages with dynamic data are loading very slowly.
Is this because the data is on another server in another country?
If so, what's the best way to speed things up? The DB is
added to daily, so I don't want to really have to update a copy of
it constantly on the French server.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
- Greg

Answer 1

Greg,
I don't know if Replicate would work for your purposes or
not.
> Another option for keeping copies of your MySQL database
files is
> /replication/. Replication is having a complete
duplicate of a
> database server running in an alternative (usually
remote) location.
>
> The alternative location runs another copy of the MySQL
server and
> uses a duplicate set of the database files. The primary
MySQL server
> is considered the /master/. All database activity
transpires on the
> master server (in other words, this is the server your
Web application
> should point to). The alternative MySQL server is the
/subordinate/.
>
> A subordinate MySQL server connects to the master server
and monitors
> SQL statements placed in the log file. The subordinate
server reads
> the master server's log file and duplicates each
statement to the
> subordinate log file. You can have any number of
subordinate MySQL
> servers duplicating data from a single master server.
>
> Each subordinate server synchronizes the statements in
its log file
> with the master copy. If a subordinate server is offline
for a period
> of time, the next time it contacts the master it resyncs
the log file,
> adding all of the statements necessary to become
up-to-date.
>
> This makes replication ideal for storing a remote copy
of the MySQL
> database. The subordinate copy is often very close to a
real-time
> backup of the master database.
One obvious caveat is that your subordinate server must only
allow
SELECT access. Probably some DB guru's will rip-me-a-new-one
for even
suggesting such a thing. Oh well, food for thought. Check our
MySQL.com and read up on Replicate, then ask someone there if
this is
pure folly.