MySQL 5.1 enables table partitioning with a selection of partitioning algorithms and options available, independently of the storage engine used by the table. Syntactically, this implements a number of new extensions to the CREATE TABLE, ALTER TABLE, and EXPLAIN ... SELECT statements. See Chapter 17, Partitioning.

Before MySQL 5.1, the server writes general query log and slow query log entries to log files. As of MySQL 5.1, the server's logging capabilities for these logs are more flexible. Log entries can be written to log files (as before) or to the general_log and slow_log tables in the mysql database. If logging is enabled, either or both destinations can be selected. The --log-output option controls the destination or destinations of log output. See Section 5.11.1, “Server Log Tables”.

MySQL 5.1 implements support for a plugin API that allows the loading and unloading of components at runtime, without restarting the server. See Section 27.2, “The MySQL Plugin Interface”.