
Microsoft have made it very easy to move your database from Express to Standard. There’s a reason Microsoft give SQL Server Express away for free, it is so that when you out grow it you will move to SQL Server Standard, the paid for version. There are those who would advise against it in a production environment, mainly because of the risks if your data unexpectedly hits the 10GB limit, but as long as this is closely monitored then SQL Server Express is perfectly suitable in a production environment. Yes, most definitely, and it is included in some of the UKs most popular accounting or CRM applications aimed at SMEs. Can SQL Server Express be used in a Production environment? Traditionally this may have been a “server” on the businesses premises but increasingly businesses are looking to cloud based solutions for their applications. Where the database can be shared then it is advisable that the SQL Server Express database is kept somewhere that is resilient and secure, can be backed up and is always available. However, every application is different and some applications that are designed to only be used by one person may not give options for changing the location of the database. Can applications that use SQL Server Express be used by multiple people?ĭesktop applications can connect to SQL Server Express databases saved on another computer. If the significant upfront outlay of SQL Server Standard is unpalatable see the section at the end of this article about renting SQL Server. However, you may also find that the cost of developing the application to work this way may outweigh the cost of buying a SQL Server Standard licence. Of course, you can have multiple instances, up to 50 on a server, and each instance can have 1GB Memory. There is still the limitation of 1GB Memory so the benefit of circumventing the limitations by splitting into multiple databases could be negated by the fact that your application may run like a dog.

While you may be limited by the maximum database size of 10GB (this doesn’t include the Log Files), you can have an unlimited number of databases in an instance, so developers could potentially have multiple interconnected databases to get around this. These include the SQL Server Agent (used to automate certain tasks such as backups, job scheduling). There are also a number of components that are not included in the Express version compared with the Standard or Enterprise versions of SQL. What are the limitations of SQL Server ExpressĪt the time of writing (2018) Microsoft SQL Server Express is limited to a maximum database size of 10GB, 1GB of Memory (RAM) per instance, and the lesser of 1 Physical CPU (Socket) or 4 CPU Cores. SQL Server Express is also seen as a good starting point for people who want to learn about SQL Server.

In fact, Microsoft have created an even more lightweight version called SQL Server Express LocalDB, targeted at developers and ISVs, which runs “in-process” with applications rather than as a separate “Service”.
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Many independent software vendors (ISVs) will embed SQL Server Express with their software as it is also free to distribute. It doesn’t include some of the more advanced features enjoyed by SQL Server Standard or SQL Server Enterprise but the average small business doesn’t have the luxury of a SQL Server database administrator (DBA) or a developer that would use these features anyway. SQL Server Express is generally aimed at applications used by small businesses, these may be standard desktop applications, web applications or as a data source for mobile apps.

Microsoft wanted an alternative to Microsoft Access that would give software developers and vendors a defined path to the paid for versions of SQL Server Standard and Enterprise. Microsoft’s SQL Server Express grew out of MSDE, the original Microsoft SQL Server Data Engine (aka Microsoft Desktop Engine). While it does have some restrictions and limitations, it is the exact same database and contains many of the features that are included in the paid for versions. It is used for small scale applications and development, and is ideal for desktop, web, and mobile applications. SQL Server Express is the free version of Microsoft’s acclaimed SQL Server relational database management system.
