
In MySQL database installation, a directory has set of files which contain database metadata and data. That is the database schema and containing values. These files are,
All the above list of files may not be available in MySQL database directory. It depends on various criteria like database engine, platform and etc. For example, if we use MyISAM engine, then data folder will contain all the above files, but for InnoDB, it contains only .frm files.
C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.2\my.ini
Open my.ini and search for word “basedir”
#Path to installation directory basedir="C:/Program Files/MySQL/MySQL Server 5.2/" #Path to the database root datadir="C:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data/MySQL/MySQL Server 5.2/Data/"
In that path, there is separate folder for each database with the name of the database itself. Database files can be used for backup to secure data, schema, and indices in general circumstances, migration and DB upgrade.