MySQL: SSH Connection through Terminal in MAC

Hi Thanks for reading my question. I currently use Mac Terminal to use MySQL. I connect to either localhost or a remote server. Should I be usin开发者_开发技巧g SSH?

You won't need SSH to access a DB on your local machine.

You can use SSH to access a remote DB using MySQL. You can also use an app with a GUI like Sequel Pro to access the remote DB via an SSH tunnel.

What specifically are you trying to achieve?

There is not enough information to answer your question.

Normally SSH tunnels are used more for adhoc work, while preserving high level of security (can be used in production, too).

MySQL normally uses unencrypted traffic, but it can be setup to use SSL, so that's another path you can take.

Other alternatives are VPNs, for example OpenVPN among other solutions, but this is more of an infrastructure decision.

EDIT: For completeness

On local machine clients can communicate with mysqld over socket or local IP. Normally it is not necessary to encrypt such connections.

For remote connections (which are over IP), as stated mysql uses unencrypted connection and FTP by default also uses unencrypted connection. This might or might not be a security risk (if that particular network segment is on its own VLAN or inside already encrypted tunnel or on physically secured network).

If unsure - encrypt it.