A database is a set of data that is organized in a structured way. When it comes to computing terminology, a database is software that is used to organize and store data.
You can think about it as a virtual filing cabinet where you can store data in different groups that are typically called tables. This means that when you need a specific piece of data you go into that table and extract the file that you need.
WordPress utilizes MySQL as its main database management system. This is a software that has been created to develop databases and organize and store data when asked. Because it is an open source software, it works with other platforms aside from WordPress including Linux and Apache.
If you want to install WordPress, you will need a MySQL database. During the installation process, you will give WordPress your database information, and then they can take care of everything else.
What is Database Host?
Database host is a computer hosting system on the MySQL server. Most of the time it is labeled ‘localhost’, which means that entering ‘localhost’ in your host field is going to connect WordPress to the database. However, a number of web hosting platforms will use a different host name to manage the server.
You can find your host name in the database section of your hosting control panel. If you can’t find your host name, then you will need to get in touch with your hosting provider.
What is Database Table?
Databases come with tables that are like organized sections of a filing cabinet. This means that each table has information and columns that are stored neatly in rows. Each row has a field for each column in the table.
WordPress will automatically create these tables within the database. This means that default installation of WordPress is going to create the tables below:
This means that each of these tables is going to have a different column where the data is stored. As an example, wp_users table will come with these columns:
What is SQL Query?
SQL is short for structured query language, and it is a special programming language that is used to organize databases. An instruction given by SQL to the database server to obtain data is called a query. This means that WordPress uses MySQL to generate web pages and extract data.
This is what a default MySQL query looks like:
SQL can do more than just retrieve data from tables. It can also insert, update, and get rid of data from tables and even create new ones. This is how WordPress stores all of your website data by organizing and retrieving it from its database using SQL queries.
How to Manage Your WordPress Database
It is important that if you want to make the most of your WordPress database, you learn how to do certain tasks. This can help in the future if you are looking to troubleshoot some typical WordPress issues, help recover your website, or even just increase its security in general.
For example, you probably want to learn how you can create regular backups for your website.
WordPress databases are typically managed by using phpMyAdmin, which is a web application that has a user-friendly interface which makes managing MySQL databases easy.
There are also a lot of WordPress plugins out there that can help you create WordPress backups for your database.
How Many Types of Databases are There?
There are four main types of database management systems that are used online. The first is a relational database management system, and this is the most common.
This type of database comes with lots of columns and rows that are connected to each other through special key fields. This is the type of database that SQL uses, so therefore this is the type of database that WordPress uses.
The second type of database is called a hierarchical database model. It is similar to a tree structure, and relationships between records are one to one, or otherwise known as a parent and child system.
This means that they require the user to pass a hierarchy in order to access the data. Hierarchical databases are often limited to just one user.
Network database systems also include a hierarchical structure. However, instead of it simply being between a child and parent, this model supports many relationships, because the child tables can have more than one parent.
Lastly, object-oriented database systems have it so the information is represented as an object, and they can be more than one relationship type possible between two or more objects.