Application databases you or a developer built.
MIGRATIONS
Laravel and similar frameworks define schema in migration files, applied by a command.
The database structure should never be changed by hand; change the migration and run it.
That way every environment stays consistent.
THE ENV FILE
Holds the credentials. It must never be publicly reachable.
Confirm: visiting the .env path should return Forbidden or Not Found, never content.
This is one of the most damaging exposures possible, since it hands over credentials directly.
AFTER DEPLOYING
Run the migration command to apply any schema changes.
Clear the configuration and route caches, or the application uses stale values.
SEEDING
Seeders populate a database with initial or test data. Useful for staging; never run a destructive seeder against production.
QUEUES
If the application uses database queues, that table grows and needs a worker processing it.
On shared hosting, a persistent worker is not possible; a cron-triggered run is the usual arrangement.
BACKUPS
The database plus the .env file plus uploaded files. Code lives in version control.
