MySQL

Based on video from lullabot, the following settings in my.cnf file in mysql for drupal performance and handling:

Before beginning to start using MySQL it is recommended to run the script provided by MySQL to provide some security features.
The link is: /usr/bin/mysql_secure_installation . The location can vary. It basically requests for root password, disabling remote root login, remove anonymous users and other security setting.

Character Set: utf8. Drupal mostly expects the default character set to be utf8.
default_character_set=utf8