Database Choice for WebSite

I have developed several websites on my local host for school. I can program database driven aspects of a webisite such as a blog on my own no problem. At school I used a MySQL DB which was hosted on a dedicated server, so开发者_如何学编程 when the server went down I could not have access to my data. I also have a mysql DB on my localhost but...my question is this: If i use the MySQL DB on my localhost, won't I only have access to the data when my computer is running so that my site can make server requests?

How can I set up any kind of DB for my site that is reliable and doesn't depend on my localhost to act as a DB Server?

I am now developing in .NET

Thanks. PS I don't have access to schools' server any more.

PPS I still don't have a site set up through a hosting provider...probalby going to go with godaddy

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You'll need a server for that. A server will cost you on a monthly basis, I haven't heard of any free mysql servers, someone else may be able to help you with that.

Regular hosting providers supply PHP and MySQL server. I run my sites on Dreamhost (www.dreamhost.com)

It might also be worthwhile to look into Amazon EC2 : http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/ Also Amazon RDS for pure database only usage : http://aws.amazon.com/rds/

They provide a pay as you use service and the tier 1 service is free for the first year as I understand

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There's no magic, you have to host your DB on a server that will run 24/7. Could be on the internet, it depends on the firewalls surrounding you.

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The website will always depend on some sort of database server, why so worried that your database will be unreachable? Your webserver can go down also and will have the same consequences as the db.

Why don't you get some paid hosting? It is fairly cheap these days, for around 30dollar/year you will have some reliable hosting. When the DB will break down, it is not your responsibility.

If you don't want te be dependent of MySQL, you will need to use plain-text database that will be maintained by PHP or something.

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You might consider running the MYSQL in i.e. a cloud provider, like Amazon EC2. It will certainly cost some money.