Where are databases actually stored? Do we store the database in the web server itself (like NGINX or Apache), or do we have any other kind of server dedicated to only the database, if this is the case, how would we connect to the database from another machine?

For example, I've tinkered with MySQL databases stored in my local machine, which i used to create web applications: how could i store (host) those databases somewhere else in another machine and still use them in the same web application running on a completely different machine?

CodePudding user response：

Where is the database stored?

The database -- the relational database management system -- is a network-accessible hunk of server code. MySQL, for example, is a server software package.

That server software runs on a computer -- in internet parlance a server machine -- somewhere. Maybe it's on your laptop. Maybe it's on a server machine in the next room. Maybe it's on a virtual machine you rent from AWS,Azure, Digital Ocean, or some other cloud vendor.

The machine hosting the database for a web site can be the same machine that hosts the web site's web server, or a different machine. Modestly sized web sites often run the database and the web server on the same machine. Bigger sites often have multiple web server machines all using just one database machine.

As long as the web server code can reach the database server via a TCP/IP connection, you have a working configuration.

Where is the database stored?

The database server software uses the file system (disk, SSD drives, or network-attached storage) of its host machine to store the data in its tables. The structure of the file-system files used by the database server software is a huge topic far beyond the scope of a StackOverflow answer. Suffice it to say that those files are useless without the database server software to read, write, and back them up ( with a few special exceptions).