While I've been working with MySQL for years, this is the first time I've run across this very newbie-esq issue. Due to a client demand, I must host their website files (PHP) on a IIS server that is not running MySQL (instead, they are running MSSQL). However, I have developed the site using a MySQL database which is located on an external host (Rackspace Cloud). Obviously, my mysql_connect function is now bombing because MySQL is not running on localhost. Question: Is it even possible to hit an external MySQL database if localhost is not running MySQL? Apologies for the rookie question, and many thanks in advance.