MySQL is an open source software that resides on a web hosting server and is extremely popular for its relational database management functionalities. Currently, the total number of installations of MySQL on web hosting servers across the globe has surpassed the 6 million mark. MySQL is an acronym for "My Structured Query Language" and has dual official pronunciations, i.e. MySEQueL and MyS-Q-L. In today's age of information abundance, it has become almost impossible to manage the information stored on a website manually. A database on the hosting server provides easy access to information including adding new records, as well as modifying and deleting existing records. Because of the ability of modern computers to handle gigantic quantities of data, database management systems are a natural choice for deployment on web hosting servers whenever storage of information that can fit into logical categories is required.

A simple flat database consists of objects or records which correspond to the rows in a table and attributes or properties corresponding to columns. Each column represents a particular attribute, so that a record can have only one value for that attribute. In other words, a record is simply a collection of values of the different attributes. For example, a bank may have information about its employees stored in a database with columns such as age, salary, address, experience etc. An employee might have 25 for the age attribute, $5000 for the salary attribute etc. What makes a relational database different from a flat database is that it may also have an entity in a table connected with another table which gives the details for that entity. For example, if the main table has information about employees, clients and supervisors, then clicking on an employee or supervisor may take to another table which has detailed information about that particular employee or supervisor.

Just like flat databases which can be stored in simple.txt files on a computer hard drive and are simple to understand, a relational database is also quite easy for humans to comprehend. The use of MySQL as a hosting database server in conjunction with the PHP scripting technology has gained widespread recognition lately because of its ability to create robust and dynamic server-side applications. Although MySQL has been criticized for its inability to handle a large array of database management systems, its appreciation and popularity continues to grow as more and more versions of it are released. The latest version of MySQL is version 5 which has dramatically improved its performance. All the web hosting providers listed at AWHD offer one or more MySQL databases bundled with their web hosting plans.