Installing MySQL on Microsoft Windows Using a  noinstall  ZIP Archive 2.3.4.3 Selecting a MySQL Server Type The following table shows the available servers for Windows in MySQL 8.0. Binary Description mysqld Optimized binary with named-pipe support mysqld-debug Like  mysqld , but compiled with full debugging and automatic memory allocation checking All of the preceding binaries are optimized for modern Intel processors, but should work on any Intel i386- class or higher processor. Each of the servers in a distribution support the same set of storage engines. The  SHOW ENGINES statement displays which engines a given server supports. All Windows MySQL 8.0 servers have support for symbolic linking of database directories. MySQL supports TCP/IP on all Windows platforms. MySQL servers on Windows also support named pipes, if you start the server with the  named_pipe  system variable enabled. It is necessary to enable this variable explicitly because some users have experienced problems with shutting down the MySQL server when named pipes were used. The default is to use TCP/IP regardless of platform because named pipes are slower than TCP/IP in many Windows configurations. If you installed MySQL using the  noinstall  package, no data directory is included. To initialize the data directory, use the instructions at Section 2.10.1, “Initializing the Data Directory” . This section gives a general overview of starting the MySQL server. The following sections provide more specific information for starting the MySQL server from the command line or as a Windows service. The information here applies primarily if you installed MySQL using the  noinstall  version, or if you wish to configure and test MySQL manually rather than with the MySQL Installer. The examples in these sections assume that MySQL is installed under the default location of  C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 8.0 . Adjust the path names shown in the examples if you have MySQL installed in a different location. Clients have two options. They can use TCP/IP, or they can use a named pipe if the server supports named-pipe connections. MySQL for Windows also supports shared-memory connections if the server is started with the shared_memory  system variable enabled. Clients can connect through shared memory by using the  -- protocol=MEMORY  option. For information about which server binary to run, see Section 2.3.4.3, “Selecting a MySQL Server Type” . Testing is best done from a command prompt in a console window (or “DOS window” ). In this way you can have the server display status messages in the window where they are easy to see. If something is wrong with your configuration, these messages make it easier for you to identify and fix any problems. The database must be initialized before MySQL can be started. For additional information about the initialization process, see Section 2.10.1, “Initializing the Data Directory” . Note 2.3.4.5 Starting the Server for the First Time 2.3.4.4 Initializing the Data Directory 145