title: MySql - Large Single Table or Multiple Small Tables
body: <p>I am in the process of building a PHP/MySql database application which could have heavy usage on certain tables. </p>
  
  <p>Three tables have the potential to have lots of UPDATEs executed - here is some information about these tables</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>each user will have a maximum of 200 rows per table</li>
  <li>each row can be as large as 250k</li>
  <li>potential user base may be 5,000 users</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>The broad question I have is <strong>what is the max # tables per MySql database</strong> (on a Linux server). I am also interested in the pros and cons of taking the approach of assigning a table per user instead of a single table which all users share.</p>