3

We have swtiched from MySql to SqlServer, but I don't know what version of SqlServer to use in production ... We have a webapplication (C# / ASP.NET)

  • SqlServer Express 2008 R2 ?
  • SqlServer Web 2008 R2?

The DB limit is no problem. 10GB is more than enough (the largest DB is 400 MB and is used for 5 years now). The thing I'm worried about is the memory limit of the Express edition.

We have Windows Server 2008, 2 GB memory, what is your advise ? Knowing that we have about 100 - 150 databases, all smaller than 500 MB.

Please let me know

2 Answers2

2

The memory limit is going to be a huge problem for that many databases. It may also stil be a problem in Web if you are using a low end edition of the Windows Server. The web edition is limited only to the memory resources of the host operating system.

You may want to check out the features of all the versions. In the end the Web version may not be the right choice either.

Tim Meers
  • 663
  • 6
  • 16
  • ok, but at the moment we're using MySql, that works also fine with many databases ... is there a lot of differences between MySQL and MsSQL about the memory usage ? –  Mar 30 '11 at 21:21
  • I do know that MSSQL will be much more aggressive in caching. At least in my usage. I will often see 6+ gb of memory tied up on just SQL from a 13gb database. But I also have a server with 10 highly active databases in MySQL none reasching the levels of data my MSSQL one and it sits fairly well on a machine with 4gb of memory. – Tim Meers Apr 05 '11 at 15:21
  • In the end you need to look at the platform changes. Moving to a Microsoft platform is more than just comparing memory usage patterns. It's a lifestyle change in my opinion. – Tim Meers Apr 05 '11 at 15:22
2

With only 2GB of memory, SQL Express is almost as good as SQL Web, since Windows will take its share of memory too. Especially if you run your ASP.NET webapp in the same server.

If you want a significant but cost-effective performance improvement, I would recommend using SQL Web and increasing the amount of physical memory as long as the sqlservr.exe process will use it. 8GB of memory is a reasonable minimum these days.

SQL Web requires a SPLA contract. SPLA Essentials pricing is very competitive, SQL Web license should be less than 20€/month.

mika
  • 1,466
  • 2
  • 12
  • 18