If you have multiple databases on the same server AND you are using persistent connections, you MUST prefix all the table names with the specific database name.
Changing the database using the xxx_select_db functions alters the database for the connection for all users who are sharing that connection (assuming PHP is running shared and not CGI/CLI).
If you have 2 databases (live and archive) and your script is talking to both, you cannot use 2 persistent connections and change the database for each one.
Internally, persistent connections are used even if you do not specify that you want to use persistent connections. This is why new_link was added to mysql_connect/mssql_connect (PHPV4.2.0+).
