MySQL is an open source relational database system that
runs on Unix and Windows seb servers and stores data in a set of related
tables. Using a data access language called SQL, information can be extracted
from the MySQL database tables using selection criteria. When a MySQL
database is integrated into website, the web pages can be dynamically
generated from the data stored in the database. The advantage of implementing
a “data driven” website rather than a conventional site using static HTML
pages is the ease of maintenance. When the MySQL tables are updated, all web
pages that use the data immediately reflect the changes made.
MySQL is the world's most popular open source database
and is supported in many web hosting packages. To generate dynamic web pages
and leverage the power of a MySQL database, the web server must support
server-side scripting using languages such as PHP or Perl.
The following table provides a comparison of available
web hosting packages that provide support for MySQL. The data is sorted based
on monthly web hosting costs:
