Instead of transmitting the export file over the network with HTTP, it is possible to save it directly on the file system of the web server. This could be quicker and less sensitive to execution time limits, because the whole transfer from server to client browser is bypassed. Eventually, a file transfer protocol like FTP or SFTP can be used to retrieve the file, because leaving it on the same machine would not provide good backup protection.

A special directory has to be created on the web server before saving an export file on it. Usually, this is a subdirectory of the main phpMyAdmin directory. We will use save_dir as an example. This directory must have special permissions. First, the web server must have write permissions for this directory. Also, if the web server's PHP component is running in safe mode, the owner of the phpMyAdmin scripts must be the same as the owner of save_dir.

On a Linux system, assuming that the web server is running as group...