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DamonAskavio
DamonAskavio

Reputation: 54

Maximum number of connections allowed on an SQL Server running on a Windows Server 2000 machine

I have developed a VBNET application that would require database connection (SQL Server 2005 Express) to a Windows Server 2000 PC. These applications will run in Windows XP and it is expected to be installed across at least 20 clients, all linked through LAN.

I would like to know if there are connection limits using Windows XPs or is the limit dependent on the server machine.

Also on a related note, are there limits for TCP/IP connections in the same case?

These are all so that I can decide whether to upgrade the client PCs to Windows 7.

Thanks in advance.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 991

Answers (2)

Joel Coehoorn
Joel Coehoorn

Reputation: 415725

The connection limits you're referring to only apply to incoming connections. For outgoing connections, you're fine. Additionally, the limits only apply to desktop operating systems like XP. Server 2000 does not have the same limitation.

In other words, this will work just fine... at least for a while.

However, the systems you're using are beyond obsolete... they are end of life. This means that no new patches are created or released for these systems, even when new critical vulnerabilities are discovered... and believe me, new vulnerabilities are discovered all the time. That makes these systems fundamentally insecure. It's irresponsible to continue using them, and only a matter of time until your network is hacked.

Upvotes: 0

Mike Dinescu
Mike Dinescu

Reputation: 55720

Yes, there are connection limits but there are a few things you need to consider:

  1. The database-access paradigm in .NET is to pool and use database connections on an as needed basis. This way database connections are not held unnecessarily

  2. From #1 above follows that a single database server should be able to service lots of clients simultaneously if you write your code correctly

  3. 20 clients is definitely within the realm of possibility - even for SQL Server Express which is not limited in terms of number client connections but is is limited by how much memory it can use and how many cores which indirectly limit the number of connections that it can handle. To the same point, there is a limit to how many TCP connections a Windows machine can handle but on a server OS the limitation will most likely come from resources (processing power and available memory) before you hit the arbitrary software limit of active TCP connections (which I believe is in the range of millions)

  4. You are using seriously obsolete operating systems - these are no longer supported and you should move off of them as soon as possible!

Upvotes: 1

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