I am working on a project that requires a MySQL database to store important information (So a little security would be nice). I realize that some users can't find or don't have MySQL databases with their hosting accounts. I would like to provide users with the ability to get a database like such for free (It doesn't have to be that much of a quota per db because their will only be about 3-4 tables and only one will have a good sized amount of rows). That said, I am looking for a Free MySQL host that will allow multiple MySQL users account and let me control over what tables/databases (If they have unlimited or a a lot of databases) the users can access. This might seem a little far-fetched, but if anyone has any suggestions or links to free hosts that meet my criteria I would be grateful! Thanks so much!

FlashCreations

If its really only small & simple
why not a flat file version for those without sql
fixed length fields teminated by line feed
or
php arrays
is quite fast to read and write, especially since the server can cache the write.
look at the structure used by some of the simpler apps
here is a sample of a data set for a non-sql tracker

"traffic" => array(
 array(  "time" => 1211356529, "prx_ip" => "unknown", "ip" => "76.11.56.122", "dns" => "blk-11-56-122.eastlink.ca", "agent" => "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1)", "referer" => "unknown", "page" => 236, "browser" => "explorer", "browser_note" => "7.0", "os" => "windowsxp", "visits" => 8, "ext" => "ca", "id" => 16049,    "views" =>    array(  "1211356244|0|1", "1211356260|45|1", "1211356279|22|1", "1211356288|30|1", "1211356305|131|1", "1211356350|32|1", "1211356408|132|1", "1211356529|236|1"    ),  "off" => 0    ),
 array(   "time" => 1211356603, "prx_ip" => "unknown", "ip" => "74.6.21.105", "dns" => "lj512805.crawl.yahoo.net", "agent"  => "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Yahoo! Slurp; http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/slurp)", "referer" => "unknown", "page" => 94, "robot" => "yahoo", "visits" => 1, "ext" => "us", "id" => 16050,   "views" =>  array( "1211356603|94|1"  )  ),
 array( "time" => 1211359223, "prx_ip" => "unknown", "ip" => "74.6.22.238", "dns" => "lj511936.crawl.yahoo.net", "agent"  => "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Yahoo! Slurp; http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/slurp)", "referer" => "unknown", "page" => 22, "robot" => "yahoo", "visits" => 1, "ext" => "us", "id" => 16051,  "views" => array( "1211359223|22|1"  )  )
 ),

That sounds like a good idea, but usernames, passwords, emails, and other sensitive data will be stored here so maybe a little bit more security should be in order? Maybe that is enough security though? What do you think?

thought processes:::

md5 # data on table insert
compare md5 of login to table data

table in a folder chmodd invisible to the outside world

crypt

table location information only in php blocks in the running script not sent to the outside world

I'm sure there are ways, that may be strong enough secure for end user
mine is just a use log dont have diret access to server logs so made my own

a shared host package without sql is as secure as my house,
I dont have door locks,
end user need seriously whether it is reasonable to require security at all
Secure needs a minimum standard on the host as well as in the code you're writing $silk_purse >< 'sows ear'; and it might make a convenient low end demo version for high end customers

Good idea. Though my password encryption is a bit more advanced I like the idea and I'll probably use it. There's just one problem. I would like users to connect via mysql connection. Is there any way to redirect the mysql connection to a php file that reads the data?

Good idea. Though my password encryption is a bit more advanced I like the idea and I'll probably use it. There's just one problem. I would like users to connect via mysql connection. Is there any way to redirect the mysql connection to a php file that reads the data?

I have to admit ignorance,
Dunno,
on my development i didnt want to waste database on the webstats
the filesize is small enough that the flat file is faster than reading another table in sql cms, the cms tables are huge
I did not investigate integration with sql
users dont see sql
they just see output, which could come from anywhere, so there is probably a method to do so,
Guru Call ? any SQL gurus out there ?

Yeah I'm not sure either. Probably something you can't do on a free host (like redirecting port 3306 to 80). Still though I don't know how well that would work! I have an alternative to the redirecting SQL to PHP, but it involves adding code to check and see what mode the software is in (MySQL, or using the method you described). If it's using the method described here then I will have to write some more functions to connect to my PHP script (which might be hard to do since some hosts prevent curl/remote execution). If there is anybody that knows how to redirect MySQL to PHP please let me know how to! Thanks!

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