# xSQL User's Guide

> As explained in the xSQL Product Overview, xSQL is an interactive tool for processing SQL statements that can be run as server or client to access eXtremeDB databases. For developers new to xSQL we highly recommend the quick start tutorial to quickly get up and running with this powerful tool. Then use the links below for in-depth coverage of the xSQL commands and capabilities of interest:

> Startup options | Command line and config file options
> Commands | Specialized xSQL commands that can be entered at the `XSQL>` prompt
> Data Export and Import | Online backup of persistent databases, saving and loading database snapshots, metadata and dictionaries
> Server Instrumentation | Viewing Storage Usage, implementing Security Measures, Logging Runtime Statistics and other server controls
> xRun | xRun Control Utility
> Network Communications | Managing Network Communications with xSQL
> Connection Lock Information | Viewing information about internal locking performance for xSQL connections
> Cluster Control | Cluster control commands to get information from, detach and attach cluster nodes
> Sharding | Distributing database data across multiple servers or splitting a database into multiple instances (“shards”) within a single process
> Compression and Encryption | Compression and encryption of database data
> Analytics_Functions | Using the Vector-based Analytics Functions library
> Optimizations | Techniques and tips for optimizing xSQL performance