Need Access to MS SQL server

[vfleites]

I was wondering if anyone would be willing to let one of my clients connect to an existing MS SQL server on the same network. They need about 20 mb of space and I am hesitant to spend the license fee for one site. Plz let me know cost monthly or otherwise.

Thanks in advance!

Victor

[rharmon]

Could you not just use MySQL for the one client? Best of all its FREE!

[vfleites]

Originally posted by rharmon
Could you not just use MySQL for the one client? Best of all its FREE!

I don't know. I have used MySQL from scratch but never with an existing database that is coming from another existing MS SQL database. (I did not create the website)

[rharmon]

you should be able to dump the data and then reload it in MySQL pretty easily. Especially if its just a plain database. I use MySQL for ALL my database stuff and love it.

[vfleites]

I also love MySQL especially the cost. I am hesitant however to monkey with this particular customer since they asked me specifically for these specs when we started.

Curious.. Do you use php or asp to connect to the database?

[rharmon]

I myself use Perl but it is just an ODBC driver for MySQL that I use (http://www.mysql.com/downloads/api-myodbc.html) so anything that supports ODBC should connect, PHP, ASP, etc.

[wunderlin]

I have a couple of Access databases on my site that I use ASP to get at.

Do you know what the deal is with the built-in SQL database that comes with the server? Is this somehow a crippled database? I know Enterprise Manager is missing, but are there any other limitations?

[saxroots]

Victor,

You can install MS Desktop Engine which is a FREE version of MS SQL Server 2000. It'll do what you want easily; the main limitation is it's maximum size of 2GB and only 5 simultaneous users.

To administer it (create/edit databases / tables / etc) you can use Web Matrix which is free from MS - go to www.asp.net for all the info, downloads and free tutorials.

It can be administered remotely - no problem. i.e. You can run Web Matrix from home and work on the database on your server.

My SB Win2k3 server came with MSDE installed.

[Shane]

Originally posted by saxroots
Victor,

You can install MS Desktop Engine which is a FREE version of MS SQL Server 2000. It'll do what you want easily; the main limitation is it's maximum size of 2GB and only 5 simultaneous users.

To administer it (create/edit databases / tables / etc) you can use Web Matrix which is free from MS - go to www.asp.net for all the info, downloads and free tutorials.

It can be administered remotely - no problem. i.e. You can run Web Matrix from home and work on the database on your server.

My SB Win2k3 server came with MSDE installed.

Don't give your customer (who is requesting MSSQL) MSDE. Also, you can give them MySQL because it's free, but who knows what they need it for. Do they have an app that only supports MSSQL or do they need to use stored procedures and triggers? If you don't want to buy the license, check out third party providers.

[saxroots]

.Don't give your customer (who is requesting MSSQL) MSDE.
I'm curious why you say don't give the customer MSDE;

Isn't MSDE a "Lite" version of MSSQL or is there something else I'm missing here?

I'd really like to know :)

Thanks

[Shane]

Originally posted by saxroots
I'm curious why you say don't give the customer MSDE;

Isn't MSDE a "Lite" version of MSSQL or is there something else I'm missing here?

I'd really like to know :)

Thanks

Yes, it is a lite version, but it isn't based on concurrent users. That's just a common misconception.

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=mnmSuR7uBHA.2496%40cpmsftngxa07&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dmsde%2Bmax%2Busers%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26hl%3Den

One of the reasons I wouldn't use it is because it may get very slow when many users are querying it. Therefore, if a site gets a sudden splurge of traffic, the queries could get dirt slow. MSDE is great for very small web-based applications and Desktop applications, though.

What I would do is:

- If they just need a SQL database without any fancy features, give them MySQL and say, "We are currently working on obtaining MSSQL Server licenses from Microsoft, but until then, we do offer MySQL databases. " then describe MySQL for a bit.

You can always get a third-party account from another company.

[saxroots]

Originally posted by Shane
Yes, it is a lite version, but it isn't based on concurrent users. That's just a common misconception.

...MSDE is great for very small web-based applications and Desktop applications, though.



So if Victor's application only called for around 5 simultaneous users or less - then MSDE would be a good solution?

Another short term solution would be to install the full blown trial version of SQL Server 2000 (free) which expires after 120 days but would give them a chance to decide if it's worth purchasing.

Just an idea...

[Shane]

Originally posted by saxroots
So if Victor's application only called for around 5 simultaneous users or less - then MSDE would be a good solution?


Sure, if that's all, then it should be fine.

[saxroots]

Originally posted by Shane
Sure, if that's all, then it should be fine.

Exactly :D

[vfleites]

Unfortunately (for the server), we are talking potentially 30-40 concurrent users (at peak). At least this is what the current stats show.

The app is written to connect to MS SQL. using ASP. Does anyone know if the connect strings are the same no matter if using MS or MySQL? In other words is the connect string written for the OBDC connection or specifically for MS SQL?

FYI it is only text data being presented to a web page from the database. I was told by the developer that 12 or more concurrent users would bog down the site.

Thanks for all the input!!!

Victor

[Tino Didriksen]

it is only text data being presented to a web page from the databaseSo it's not even dynamic data? What's it doing in the database in the first place?
Static data goes in HTML files, not in databases.

On another note, MySQL can handle several hundred concurrent connections. Even more with MySQL 4's Query Cache.

[Shane]

Originally posted by vfleites


The app is written to connect to MS SQL. using ASP. Does anyone know if the connect strings are the same no matter if using MS or MySQL? In other words is the connect string written for the OBDC connection or specifically for MS SQL?



Great resource: http://www.connectionstrings.com

[vfleites]

The website was created for ease of modification by the client. The customer does not need to know any web creation software at all. When they need to update or add a project description to the site, they go to an admin section and add the text. The fonts, colors etc. are all preset. The issue of concurrent users crops up during viewing where the database must dig and present all the current projects posted by the customer.

BTW, thanks for the connections resource. I think I will find my answer there.

[chrisk]

MSDE should be JUST FINE for 40-50 web users.

Your stats probably show the number of concurrent ASP sessions open. That is totally different than # of concurrent database users / calls.

My Scenario:

I have a single web site that does about 1.2 million content page views per month ( at another hosting service). At any given time, I have between 150 and 300 concurrent ASP session users going. Each page of my web site processes code once for each page, then twice more for a couple of JS based banners that reference an ASP page to serve the banner itself and count the impression. That is over 3.6 million ASP pages running per month (almost trivial for ASP and SQL Server).

Because of connection pooling, I never get more than 5-6 database connections running at any given time. Normally it sits at about 3-4. MSDE should easily handle this kind of volume.

I suspect that in your scenario, even a Microsoft Access database would work (but i never recommend it)

BTW, I will soon be migrating my big web site to ServerBeach using MSDE so I can dump my expensive Co-Loco that it is running on.

[chrisk]

I just wanted to post a followup to my previous post.

I have moved my primary traffic domain to a dedicated serverbeach Windows 2003 web edition server. The web site is running IIS/MSDE.

Site Stats:
Full Page Views: 1.5 million / month, (4.5 million ASP pages served per month including ASP banner script executions)

Bandwidth: 150GB / month (no downloads, just pages)

Active daytime ASP sessions: 300-400

ServerBeach Server CPU Utilization: 18-25%
Response is VERY fast, no pauses, no DB lockouts.

My old setup was a dual 1GHZ p3 with 2GB memory with SQL Server 2000 and the CPU only ran at 4-5% CPU. The MSDE / single proc setup is not as powerfull but only 1/5th the price I was paying elewhere.

I believe my traffic could double without having to worry about growing out of this single server environment.


Hope this helps