Frequently Asked Questions

The NearlyFreeSpeech.NET FAQ (*)

MySQL (*)

How do I get a MySQL process?

Ok, I have a MySQL process. How do I create a database?

What is the DSN (hostname) I should use to connect to my MySQL database?

What is the difference between a MySQL process and a MySQL database?

If I lose my MySQL admin user password, can you help me get it back?

How do I access my MySQL database process from the ssh server command line?

How do I access my MySQL database from my own computer?

Where can I find more information on properly creating MySQL users?

What are the default databases present in my MySQL process?

Why do I have to pay for a stopped MySQL process?

When I change my member password, do my MySQL passwords change too?

Why do I get an error "Cannot log in to the MySQL server" when I try to log in to phpMyAdmin?

What does the MySQL Error Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '.../mysql.sock' (2) mean? (or socket 'please_see_the_faq')

When I try to log in to phpMyAdmin I get the error "the username was not provided." What should I do?

Why shouldn't I use my MySQL admin username from my web site?

What 'Host' value should I use when creating MySQL users?

How can I make automatic backups of MySQL?

How do I enable or disable InnoDB for my MySQL process?

How can I remove my MySQL process?

What username and password do I use to administer my MySQL process?

How do I upgrade MariaDB to a newer version?

Why do newly-created MySQL processes seem so expensive?

When a MySQL process is first created (or started) it can be very resource intensive. After things settle down, our system can very carefully start to prune away at bits that aren't being used to get the resource usage down. This process is very conservative so as not to impact performance, and it can take a couple of weeks.

The effect of this is that the initial billing estimates of MySQL are based on a usage level that isn't (usually) sustained, so it's not unusual for it to report that a new process may cost several dollars a month because based on that limited sample, it would. But as things settle down, the estimate will typically go down to reflect your real usage. As of September 2016, the median cost for MariaDB 10 processes is about $0.60 for resources and storage combined and over 72% of MariaDB 10 processes cost less than $1.00/month.

If your usage records and estimates remain high for more than a week or two, you may wish to review your usage to see if something is more intensive than you expected. Missing indexes, for example, can really increase the resource usage of a MySQL process.

What does it mean that my MySQL process is "damaged?"

How do I enable or disable MySQL logs?