Amazon.com Review:
Though this product's name tends to indicate that it's purely a database tool, NuSphere MySQL is really a suite of four open-source software packages--proven, popular, and well-supported ones--that work together to run interactive, dynamic Internet sites. This package is comprised of the MySQL relational database management system (RDBMS), interpreters for the Perl and PHP languages, and the Apache Web server. It's far from just a straight CD-ROM distribution of publicly available software, though. NuSphere has done a great job of automating the packages' installation processes--this suite installs on both Windows and Linux--so the four utilities interoperate smoothly. You can also install any or all of the suite's components manually, or compile from the included source code. The big boys of databases--Oracle, Sybase, Microsoft, and others--would like you to believe that only their big, expensive RDBMS products are good enough to handle your data. It's just not true. Most of the time you'll find that MySQL, an open-source RDBMS that's widely used and meticulously maintained, is entirely adequate for storing, retrieving, and reporting on your pieces of data. It supports standard structured query language (SQL, as defined in the SQL-92 specification), and should be familiar to anyone who's done SQL work in any environment before. MySQL has been tested extensively and has been found to stack up well against commercial database products, particularly with small- to mid-size data stores and moderate transaction loads. The point: unless you have unusually tough requirements (such as an astronomical transaction load, a need to store epic quantities of data, or a need for a feature that's available only in commercial RDBMSes), MySQL can do what you want reliably and speedily. It's a well-built RDBMS that does everything most applications require. Its appeal is enhanced by the programming languages and tools that have grown up around it. This kit includes version 3.23.41. PHP (the letters come from the German for "Hypertext Preprocessor") is similar in function to Microsoft's Active Server Pages (ASP) and Sun's JavaServer Pages (JSP) scripting languages. PHP code is embedded in documents that are to be sent out by a Web server, and is interpreted before the page is served. That means you can use PHP (version 4.0.6 is part of the NuSphere product) to do database lookups (the language has a set of commands specifically for connecting to MySQL databases). PHP can format the results of the lookups as HTML, which the Web server would then send to the requesting browser. You can set up HTML forms to be submitted to PHP scripts, as well, which means you can use HTML, PHP, and MySQL together to create complete user interfaces for your databases. If you prefer using Perl (Practical Extraction and Report Language) to PHP or require its more extensive text-manipulation capabilities, this kit provides you with Perl 5.6.1. Like PHP, Perl has modules (included here) that make it easy to query MySQL databases and use the results in your applications. Perl, like PHP, can be used to generate Web pages based on query results. Perl has a gigantic following, and as a result you'll find hundreds of books, mailing lists, chat rooms, sample-code libraries, and experts on it. It's a pretty consistent and easy-to-understand language, too, so learning is relatively easy. Tying it all together: Apache, the popular, refined, and extensible open-source Web server. Apache (version 1.3.20 included here) serves HTML pages, of course, but also makes Perl and PHP scripts available to users on the network. It's reliable and customizable. There's documentation, too. Three commercially available books (all from O'Reilly & Associates, and with plenty of detail) ship as part of this package: - PHP Pocket Reference
- Apache Pocket Reference
- Perl 5 Pocket Reference, Third Edition: Programming Tools
Partly because the four software packages in this kit are so great, and partly because NuSphere's installation routine solves so many configuration hassles, NuSphere MySQL represents a great value. Don't hesitate to buy it if you need to bring up a Web server in a hurry. --David Wall | 
