What is the difference between a server and a data base.

[stehawk]

Hi,
I have just started my career as web designer, i'm having a doubt regarding a web server and a data base. After choosing the top web hosting companies only i should choose the data base service provider?

 

[elcidofaguy]

I assume you know the difference between a web server and a database... They are both completely different... A web server is the operating system which serves websites and a database is used to store and retrieve information...

The type of database you use depends on which web server due to compatibility... For example Microsoft IIS server then go for SQL Server and if its Unix (apache) based then go for Mysql... For example Wordpress CMS is based on Unix with using PHP and MYSQL database...

Personally I would go for Unix/Apache with using PHP and MYSQL.... It is open source and there are tons of free learning resources online... With webhosts choose one which does not charge for MYSQL databases...

 

[ElixantTechnology]

@elcidofaguy the term Web Server can be interpreted in different ways, how I view a web server is that it is the system in its entirety. This includes the software such as Apache, PHP and MariaDB (The Database). MariaDB is a newer, more updated version of MySQL Community Edition that features a much faster structure and better core functionality. MySQL Community Edition will cease availability in the coming year, thus MariaDB has been born.

The database is just a piece of software used to store, manage, access and keep track of information that is accessible by the software you build that powers your website, application or other programmable interface.

 

[elcidofaguy]

elcidofaguy

I've heard of MariaDB but was not aware that it started life off as a forked version of MySQL and has continued to evolve and led by the original developers of MySQL due to concerns of Oracle's acquisition of MySQL... and understandably too...

The big question is whether or when Wordpress will migrate to MariaDB... I looked online and found a couple of tutorials on how to migrate MySQL to MariaDB for WordPress so may well try it sometime later in the year... Also curious to know if there is a XAMPP equivalent which has MariaDB on as I do a lot of development work on my laptop...

Good to know of such changes happening!

Edit Note: I just found this [URLnf="http://articlebin.michaelmilette.com/how-to-upgrade-mysql-to-mariadb-in-xampp-in-5-minutes-on-windows/"]article [/URLnf]which discusses how to migrate MySQL to MariaDB for XAMPP users...

 

[Hassan]

Database is a software model which holds your data in a query friendly format where as Server is a web/network client which serves your request.

 

[ElixantTechnology]

MariaDB functions exactly the same as MySQL does as a database engine, in fact, you should not need to make any changes whatsoever to the structure of any kind of Database that is migrated from MySQL to MariaDB. Oracle is starting to phase out MySQL Community Edition, thus MariaDB is going to become the new standard. Keep in mind that MariaDB will use more initial memory than MySQL will due to its advanced caching measures, however as stated previously, the structure and query system stays identical to that of MySQL.

I have a question, are you using XAMPP in a production environment? i.e. on a VPS that is used to publicly serve content to your visitors? If so, this is definitely *not* recommended and I would immediately look for an alternative solution. XAMPP was developed as a platform strictly to be used for software development on a private home-based system, and as such it features a wide range of security vulnerabilities. It's not that hard to build a LAMP stack correctly on a Linux platform, there really should be no instance that a software such as XAMPP should be utilized. It's like cutting corners and rushing to get something done, without caring about the reprecussions.

The process of migrating to MariaDB is simple, and most web hosting providers should have already made the move. If they have not, then they are just lazy as when using a control panel such as cPanel/WHM the transition is as simple as a couple of clicks.

I've heard of MariaDB but was not aware that it started life off as a forked version of MySQL and has continued to evolve and led by the original developers of MySQL due to concerns of Oracle's acquisition of MySQL... and understandably too...

The big question is whether or when Wordpress will migrate to MariaDB... I looked online and found a couple of tutorials on how to migrate MySQL to MariaDB for WordPress so may well try it sometime later in the year... Also curious to know if there is a XAMPP equivalent which has MariaDB on as I do a lot of development work on my laptop...

Good to know of such changes happening!

Edit Note: I just found this [URLnf="http://articlebin.michaelmilette.com/how-to-upgrade-mysql-to-mariadb-in-xampp-in-5-minutes-on-windows/"]article [/URLnf]which discusses how to migrate MySQL to MariaDB for XAMPP users...

 

[elcidofaguy]

elcidofaguy

Great comments/concern!

Indeed I use XAMPP on my win7 laptop so yes its software development on a private home-based system... For sure its not the best way, but it has served me well to date from learning PHP to developing and deploying software online... I use that before I deploy/test it on a live web server through web hosting company...

I have noticed a few things needed coding changes once deployed but that was due to web server host not having certain php libraries which otherwise is available on XAMPP as well as vice-versa... I'm sure some of that was security related with the work around to fixing the code being pretty easy once I figured out the error related to missing libraries... So another factor is that the development environment and live environment are different with it being common to have issues when moving between the two... which can be a real pain ;-) It looks like XAMPP will soon be outdated if it does not keep up with the many changes in technology....

 

[BitCutter]

A database is a set of tables whereas server refers to Apache in most webhosts.