quick selection of a random row from a large table in mysql

Question

What is a fast way to select a random row from a large mysql table?

I\'m working in php, but I\'m interested in any solution even if it\'s in another language.

Answer 1

I see here a lot of solution. One or two seems ok but other solutions have some constraints. But the following solution will work for all situation

select a.* from random_data a, (select max(id)*rand() randid  from random_data) b
     where a.id >= b.randid limit 1;

Here, id, don't need to be sequential. It could be any primary key/unique/auto increment column. Please see the following Fastest way to select a random row from a big MySQL table

Thanks Zillur - www.techinfobest.com