new to server instance

[zibin2k2]

hie,

I am asking this question as i hav stumbled a few times and i think i really need to get the concept right once and for all.

I want to know the relation between server instance and MySQL server.

Whenever we install MySQL, we need to have a server instance. Without it, we cannot run login to mysql.exe / mysqladmin or other exe to perform actions. Is that right? So in other words, installing MySQL server 4.1 is just sort of like installing a container and we need to also set up the server instance to get things running?

We can also have different server instance. But why do we want different server instance. And when we have more than one, how do we know which one we are working on when we run SQL console

Usually i login to MySQL> command line and select a database and then a table and then starts performing queries. I don't really undertand how server instances fall into place. Meaning that actually when i can go into MySQL> command line, i actualy have a server instance already running as daemon? and if i delete the server instance, then i will need to create a new one to go into console again?

But when there are two server instance. When i go into MYSQL> console, how do i know which one i m working on?

Basically, i look forward to any input that can clear up my confusion :)

Thanks alot in advance