cPanel Database Features
Since cPanel is made to run on the Linux operating system, it’s main database features are based around the hugely popular open source MySQL database system; MySQL is best known for being used with the open source programming language (PHP). cPanel provides you with many tools to aid you in the creation of MySQL databases, as well as the management and editing of them which allows you to ensure that the data that they contain will not be stale which means that the database won’t be using up any unneeded disk space that you have assigned to your web hosting package. Most people uses databases in web hosting to allow them to build dynamic websites so that people are able to do activities on their site that require dynamic database interaction; these kind of activities include signing up as a member, as well as writing on a forum and commenting on a blog post. Others might also use a dynamic in the form of a CMS (content management system) to allow them to edit and change the contents of their website quickly and easily from any internet connection computer in any part of the world. Databases allow you to store information and allow you to access it at any time; most of the actions mentioned previously will make use of the MySQL database system within the context of a shared cPanel hosting environment where the Linux operating system is used, and will make use of a scripting language such as PHP or Perl to ensure that the data can be retrieved from the database and manipulated as needed into the context that will allow it to be displayed on an ordinary website. In some cases other programming languages such as Ruby on Rails (RoR) can be used in conjunction with MySQL to provide a better coded website solution; other database systems might also be deployed in conjunction with other programming languages, for example PostgreSQL has been deployed in some cPanel shared website hosting environments.
With this article you will be given the ability to create and manage MySQL databases within the environment that has been provided for you by your shared cPanel website hosting account. You will be able to deploy MySQL databases which you can then use in conjunction with the applications that you might choose to host within your web hosting account; these applications might be based on open source programming solutions such as PHP and Perl that can both be easily integrated and used with MySQL databases. The ability to manage your MySQL databases via the web based PhpMyAdmin solution that is incorporated with cPanel will also be taught; this includes the ability to execute MySQL queries on the database itself to ensure that tables can be easily setup with scripts that might be provided by programs that have been bought from third party developers, and which you want to use on your website to either help your visitors communicate with each other or to allow you to manage the content that you publish on your website with ease. If you have your own MySQL server or if you want to use the services of a third party MySQL hosting provider, then you will also be able to setup and configure the connection to a remote MySQL server from within the surroundings of your cPanel shared website hosting account; this means that any MySQL databases you setup within your hosting account will actually be setup on a remote server, if you want them to be, and will not be hosted locally on the server that your shared cPanel website hosting account is on - you can also use this feature to configure a backup MySQL server to be used in the event that the local MySQL server fails for some reason or another.
MySQL Databases
The MySQL database section of cPanel allows you to setup and configure MySQL databases as well as the users to go with them to ensure that they can be accessed successfully within your cPanel shared website hosting environment. MySQL databases allow you to store data in a centralized location that can then be accessed by applications that you might have installed on your website; applications that utilize MySQL databases might include bulletin boards, CMSs (content management systems) as well as blogs - basically any type of application that is written in a dynamic server side scripting language such as PHP that needs information to be stored in one centralized location so that it can be called on multiple web pages within the same application. Like most database programs, MySQL allows for the information that is stored in it to be encrypted (normally using the MD5 aglorathim) to ensure that if the database is accessed by a malicious attacker such as a hacker for whatever reason, the important data is encrypted meaning that it will be of no use to the attacker unless they have a method which they can utilize to decrypt the information. As mentioned previously, server side scripting languages such as PHP or Perl can be used to access and display the data that is stored within a MySQL database, as long as the correct MySQL login details are used. One thing to note when using MySQL databases is that you should always ensure that the important data that they store such as credit card details or the names and addresses of customers or members of your websites, then encryption should be used to ensure that this data is unreadable and useless to a malicious attacker such as a hacker if they some how manage to gain access to the database.
MySQL Wizard
The MySQL wizard allows you to easily create and manage both MySQL databases and the users that are required to access them by third party scripts; the wizard is for people who might find the actual MySQL database creation to confusing and in a sense ‘intimidating’. Unlike the main MySQL management panel, it takes you through the creation of a MySQL database and it’s users in steps, and instructions are included with each step to ensure that you are not confused by the process of the creation of a MySQL database. MySQL is utilized by many web based applications that are based on open source programming languages such as Perl and PHP to ensure that they have a centralized location where they can store all their necessary data and configuration settings. Like the programming languages that are used to access it, MySQL is an open source application; open source means ‘free’ and most open source products are ones that are maintained by a community of developers at no cost in most cases. Unfortunately for those of you who might find the actual MySQL panel a little daunting, then the bad news is that you can only use the MySQL wizard for the creation of MySQL databases and the users needed to go with them - you cannot utilize it to manage, edit and delete databases that you have already created using it. One thing to note about the MySQL wizard is that you can only use it for the creation of MySQL databases and the users that access it; you cannot utilize the wizard to manage databases and users that you have already created - that includes the editing and deletion of them.
PHPMyAdmin
PHPMyAdmin is a program that is based on the PHP server side scripting language and is included within cPanel to allow you to manage and administrate the databases that you have created within your cPanel shared website hosting account through your browser. PHPMyAdmin can be run if several different languages which is dependent on yourself, and gives you much needed information about MySQL server on the web hosting server in which you account resides; this information includes facts such as the MySQL version number that your web host has running on the server as well as the PHP extensions that it is utilizing. When a MySQL database is selected for editing or management, PHPMyAdmin allows you to carry out many different actions on the database so that you can manage it effectively; these include the running of SQL queries to create new tables within the database or to clean the database up if you believe that the information it contains may be stale to an extent. If you want to move your database or table to another server, or wish to take a backup of it, then you can easily use the backup tab that is displayed when you look at an individual database within PHPMyAdmin; this option creates a ‘dump’ of the database or table which is infact a t simple text fie that contains the MySQL query that can be used to recreate the database or table on another MySQL server. PHPMyAdmin also gives you many different actions that you can carry out on individual tables that you have hosted within the database; information about the individual tables is also displayed such as the coolation that has been used on it as well as the type of table it is, how many records it contains and its actual size. One thing to note is that when using PHPMyAdmin, you should always be careful as to which options you choose; this is because it is almost a ‘warren’ of many different pages that you could easily muck a database up because you have chosen an incorrect option.
Remote MySQL Server
The remote MySQL server option within cPanel allows you to setup a second custom MySQL server within cPanel that you can use to either create your MySQL databases on, or to backup the MySQL databases that you currently have hosted within your shared cPanel website hosting account to. You can also use the feature to allow other MySQL database servers or regular web servers that you might have you gain access to your databases by adding their IP address or subnet with the use of wildcards. You should only use this feature of cPanel if you have the required technical knowledge to enable you to configure the two servers to ensure that any type of data transfer is done successfully and securely; another reason for this is because you could easily mess up the other MySQL server if you do it incorrectly, and might even end up reinstalling the other MySQL server if you do not set the access rights and permissions in the correct way. The advantages of using this feature are high though; if you backup your MySQL databases to another server then you can set your scripts up to use the other server to retrieve and store the data if for some reason the local MySQL server that is on the hosting node on which you shared website hosting account resides on fails. One thing to note is that you should always be careful when transferring databases over since the data could be easily intercepted by a malicious attacker such as a hacker, who then might be able to use it for harmful purposes such as identity fraud.
Conclusion
In conclusion, cPanel provides you with a number of features which you can use to allow you to create and manage any MySQL databases that you want to have hosted under your shared cPanel website hosting account. You can also use other features to ensure that you can back your databases up to an external database server to ensure that they are safe; you can then use this other server as a database server if needs be - this might be because that the main MySQL database server that is hosted on the hosting server in which your cPanel shared website hosting account resides has failed for whatever reason. With the use of a third party application such as PHPMyAdmin which is incorporated into cPanel, you are able to view and manage all the MySQL databases that you have hosted under your hosting account on the fly; this can be helpful for you if you need to see if any new information has been added to your database via the means of your website, or to check if records that you have stored in your database are beginning to become stale. The use of open source scripting languages to interact with MySQL databases from a website has also been discussed; you can use server side scripting languages such as PHP, Ruby on Rails and Perl to interact with your databases from your website to ensure that your website is dynamic in a sense and to also make sure that the information that is displayed is up to date.
