Whenever I need to create a mysql db, I always wonder why there are so many storage engines to choose from. According to the official mysql site (http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/storage-engines.html), there are currently 10 storage engines available:

MyISAM
InnoDB
IBMDB2I
MERGE
MEMORY
EXAMPLE
FEDERATED
ARCHIVE
CSV
BLACKHOLE

Which one to choose from?

I have heard that MyISAM and InnoDB are the two most popular ones. But why? I am still not sure. Maybe someday I should gather all the info and write a little comparison table.

Meanwhile, use this handy tool to help you pick your storage engine: http://www.scaledb.com/engineselector.html