Answer - When you attempt to connect to a MySQL server, the server accepts or rejects the connection based on your identity and whether or not you can verify your identity by supplying the correct password. If not, the server denies access to you completely. Otherwise, the server accepts the connection, then enters Stage 2 and waits for requests. Your identity is based on two pieces of information: The host from which you connect Your MySQL user name Identity checking is performed using the three user table scope fields (Host, User, and Password). The server accepts the connection only if a user table entry matches your hostname and user name, and you supply the correct password. Values in the user table scope fields may be specified as follows: A Host value may be a hostname or an IP number, or 'localhost' to indicate the local host. You can use the wild-card characters `%' and `_' in the Host field. A Host value of '%' matches any hostname. A blank Host value is equivalent to '%'. Note that these values match any host that can create a connection to your server! As of MySQL Version 3.23, for Host values specified as IP numbers, you can specify a netmask indicating how many address bits to use for the network number. For example: GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES on db.* to david@'192.58.197.0/255.255.255.0'; This will allow everyone to connect from an IP where the following is true: user_ip & netmask = host_ip. In the above example all IP:s in the interval 192.58.197.0 - 192.58.197.255 can connect to the MySQL server. Wild-card characters are not allowed in the User field, but you can specify a blank value, which matches any name. If the user table entry that matches an incoming connection has a blank user name, the user is considered to be the anonymous user (the user with no name), rather than the name that the client actually specified. This means that a blank user name is used for all further access checking for the duration of the connection (that is, during Stage 2). The Password field can be blank. This does not mean that any password matches, it means the user must connect without specifying a password. Non-blank Password values represent encrypted passwords. MySQL does not