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Home » Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) » MySQL

MySQL

1. What is MySQL? #

   MySQL is an open source, relational database that can be used in conjunction with scripting languages like PHP.

2. What version of MySQL are your servers using? #

   Depending on the server, it is running either MySQL 4.1 or MySQL 5.0

3. How do you create a MySQL database? #

   MySQL databases can be setup using your control panel:

   1. log in to your control panel
   2. select the domain that you want to add the database to
   3. select “Databases”
   4. select “Add New Database”
   5. enter a database name for your new database and then click the “OK” button
   6. next, select “Add New Database User”
   7. enter a database user name and password (enter a second time to confirm) for your new database and then click the “OK” button

   For additional help with databases, check out the MySQL Tutorial as well as Plesk’s documentation.

4. How do you access phpMyAdmin to manage a MySQL database? #

   You can manage your database(s) using phpMyAdmin, which can be accessed through your control panel:

   1. log in to your control panel
   2. select the domain that has the database you need to maintain
   3. select “Databases”
   4. select the actual database
   5. select “DB WebAdmin”, which will launch phpMyAdmin

   In order to use phpMyAdmin, you’ll need to make sure that your browser doesn’t block the phpMyAdmin popup window.

   For additional help with phpMyAdmin, check out the phpMyAdmin Tutorial as well as phpMyAdmin’s Configuration and FAQ pages.

5. When trying to access phpMyAdmin, nothing happens when the “DB WebAdmin” button in the control panel is selected. What might be causing this? #

   phpMyAdmin uses a JavaScript popup window when it launches. If you have your browser or firewall configured to block all popup windows, then you will not see phpMyAdmin’s administration window. In order to use phpMyAdmin you’ll need change your browser or firewall settings to enable popup windows. Some browsers (for example Firefox) allow you to specify which individual websites to allow popup windows from.

   Here are instructions on how to allow popups for Firefox:

   Firefox for Windows

   1. Go to Tool -> Options -> Content
   2. Click “Allowed sites”
   3. Copy and paste your current Plesk URL
   4. Click “Allow”

   Firefox for Mac

   1. Go to Firefox -> Preferences -> Content
   2. Follow steps 2-4 from above

6. What host name/server name should be used to call out a MySQL database from a script? #

   To use a MySQL database on your website with PHP, Perl or another scripting language, you will need to connect to it first. The host name/server name for connecting to a database on our servers is:

   localhost

   Also be sure to check that you are using the correct “database name”, “username” and “password”.

7. Is it possible to use one database for multiple applications? #

   Customers will often setup multiple MySQL databases to use with different applications, not realizing they can potentially use one database for all of their applications. Here is an example of how this might work.

   Let’s say you have two scripts, a vote and a guestbook, each that run off of a MySQL DB. You could make one database called “Vote” with “questions” and “answers” tables in it, and another database called “Guestbook” with a table called “guests”. Each table would have the appropriate fields for its scripts to operate. Now, if you wanted to consolidate these into one DB, you could easily do the following:

   Make a database called “Master”. In it, create tables called “vote_questions”, “vote_answers” and “guestbook_guests”. When you configure your scripts, give them these names for the tables and each script will be able to use the same database for it operations. They will each call the DB “master” and use the same login/password.

   This way, you can eliminate multiple DB logins and multiple DB connections and still run two database applications on the same database.

8. Is it possible to use an external program (ie. Dreamweaver) to access MySQL on the server? #

   For security and performance reasons, remote connections to MySQL are not allowed. You can access and maintain MySQL databases using phpMyAdmin through your control panel.

9. Where can you find more information on MySQL? #

   MySQL (official website)

   Build your own Database Driven Website using PHP & MySQL (SitePoint)

   MySQL: Tutorials (Open Directory)

10. Are there limits on the maximum size of a database? #

    Yes, we have a maximum size limit of 250MB for each MySQL database. This is to maintain stable performance for both MySQL and the server.

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