CODEWITHSUNDEEP
sql-serversql-server-2008-express
Donniel
Donniel

Reputation:

Limitations of SQL Server Express

My hosting provider (Rackspace) is offering a fully managed dedicated server with SQL Server Web version () installed. My company handles web development, and has about 20+ clients using ASP.Net + SQL Server 2005.

I am thinking of cutting down costs by installing the free SQL Server 2008 Express instead. I am aware of the 1GB RAM and 4GB/database (is that correct?) limitations. What I would like to know is:

  1. Is there any limit to the NUMBER of databases I can install with the express edition?
  2. Are there any other limitations I should be wary of? I am a bit concerned about having to set up the database backup - with the express edition it might a lot more difficult.
  3. Any other advise?

Upvotes: 136

Views: 329949

Answers (6)

SqlRyan
SqlRyan

Reputation: 33914

There are a number of limitations, notably:

  • Constrained to a single CPU (in 2012, this limitation has been changed to "The lesser of one socket or four cores", so multi-threading is possible)
  • 1GB RAM (Same in 2008/2012)
  • 4GB database size (raised to 10GB in SQL 2008 R2 and still same in as of SQL 2019) per database

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/SqlServer-Tutorial-158.aspx

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/editions-and-components-of-sql-server-2019?view=sql-server-ver16#Cross-BoxScaleLimits

With regards to the number of databases, this MSDN article says there's no limit:

The 4 GB database size limit applies only to data files and not to log files. However, there are no limits to the number of databases that can be attached to the server.

However, as mentioned in the comments and above, the database size limit was raised to 10GB in 2008 R2 (and is still 10GB as of SQL 2019). Also, this 10GB limit only applies to relational data, and Filestream data does not count towards this limit (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb895334.aspx).

Upvotes: 148

niklasolsn
niklasolsn

Reputation: 323

You can't install Integration Services with it. Express does not support Integration Services. So if you want build say SSIS-packages you'll need at least Standard Edition.

See more here.

Upvotes: 4

agentnega
agentnega

Reputation: 3548

Another limitation to consider is that SQL Server Express editions go into an idle mode after a period of disuse.

Understanding SQL Express behavior: Idle time resource usage, AUTO_CLOSE and User Instances:

When SQL Express is idle it aggressively trims back the working memory set by writing the cached data back to disk and releasing the memory.

But this is easily worked around: Is there a way to stop SQL Express 2008 from Idling?

Upvotes: 15

opensas
opensas

Reputation: 63395

It seems like the database size limitation has been increased to 10GB.. good new

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlexpress/archive/2010/04/21/database-size-limit-increased-to-10gb-in-sql-server-2008-r2-express.aspx

Upvotes: 4

Jason Cumberland
Jason Cumberland

Reputation: 992

If you switch from Web to Express you will no longer be able to use the SQL Server Agent service so you need to set up a different scheduler for maintenance and backups.

Upvotes: 4

Remus Rusanu
Remus Rusanu

Reputation: 294177

You can create user instances and have each app talk to its very own SQL Express.

There is no limit on the number of databases.

Upvotes: 13

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