Senior Brother's Insights

Nov 4, 2025 · Databases

Why Using UUIDs as MySQL Primary Keys Can Hurt Performance—and How to Fix It

UUIDs provide globally unique identifiers useful in distributed systems, but using them as MySQL primary keys can degrade insert speed, increase storage, and cause page splits; this article explains UUID versions, their structures, performance impacts, and best‑practice techniques such as binary storage, ordered UUIDs, and alternative ID schemes.