MS SQL Server - Sql Server Express 2005

Author

Sql Server Express 2005

antimon@gmail.com

2006-03-23, 1:23 pm

Hi,

I am planning a web based game project. And i decided to go with
asp.net + sql server.
Since it is a personal project i want to use sql server express but i'm
not sure about it. It's limitations are known to be 1gb ram, 1 cpu
usage and 4gb db size. Since it is a game, i would expect people to
stay online and cause lots of sql server calls.

I mean, if i need an upgrade to stantard edition in a short time, well,
i cannot afford it. I expect it to handle till i can make money for a
better server. (If i never need it, no problem :) just considering a
success case) Otherwise, going with php+mysql seems better since i can
upgrade server hardware to boost performance. I will need to worry
about rdbms license.

How would express edition perform in a scenario like this? Or shall i
go use mysql and php. Because i cannot afford a license for thousands
of usd if i need it in a short time.

David Gugick

2006-03-23, 8:24 pm

antimon@gmail.com wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am planning a web based game project. And i decided to go with
> asp.net + sql server.
> Since it is a personal project i want to use sql server express but
> i'm not sure about it. It's limitations are known to be 1gb ram, 1 cpu
> usage and 4gb db size. Since it is a game, i would expect people to
> stay online and cause lots of sql server calls.
>
> I mean, if i need an upgrade to stantard edition in a short time,
> well, i cannot afford it. I expect it to handle till i can make money
> for a better server. (If i never need it, no problem :) just
> considering a success case) Otherwise, going with php+mysql seems
> better since i can upgrade server hardware to boost performance. I
> will need to worry about rdbms license.
>
> How would express edition perform in a scenario like this? Or shall i
> go use mysql and php. Because i cannot afford a license for thousands
> of usd if i need it in a short time.

There is a concurrency manager in Express that limits the number of
active connections that can actually perform work. It sounds like
Express might not be the best solution for you. Why not use MySQL with
ASP.net? You can access MySQL though .Net.

--
David Gugick - SQL Server MVP
Quest Software

David Portas

2006-03-23, 8:24 pm

David Gugick wrote:
>
> There is a concurrency manager in Express that limits the number of
> active connections that can actually perform work.

That's not correct. There is no concurrency limit / workload governor
in SQL Server Express. Scalability is limited only by the supported RAM
and CPU.
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms165672.aspx

--
David Portas, SQL Server MVP

Whenever possible please post enough code to reproduce your problem.
Including CREATE TABLE and INSERT statements usually helps.
State what version of SQL Server you are using and specify the content
of any error messages.

SQL Server Books Online:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/ms130214(en-US,SQL.90).aspx
--

antimon@gmail.com

2006-03-23, 8:24 pm

I know i can use mysql with asp.net using odbc drivers but i'm just not
sure about it's performance. I did it for reporting to a remote mysql
server before but there was no performance considerations back then.
And if i go for mysql i would like it to run on linux (not sure about
win32 version? PostgreSQL needed cygwin as i remember. So using them on
unix platforms seems better to me).

The thing is, i like sql server, thats why i want windows based server.
But i can't be sure how it will perform with 1gb of ram and a cpu.
(btw, my unix server would not be a 8gigs ram dual cpu one :) if i
choose mysql, it will be limited to ~1gb of ram and one cpu too but as
i said before, i will have a chance to upgrade hardware). I thought
that i can expect an income from a site slows down with sql server
express so i can afford a new license. But i have no idea how sql
server uses resources.

David Portas

2006-03-23, 8:24 pm

antimon@gmail.com wrote:
> I know i can use mysql with asp.net using odbc drivers but i'm just not
> sure about it's performance. I did it for reporting to a remote mysql
> server before but there was no performance considerations back then.
> And if i go for mysql i would like it to run on linux (not sure about
> win32 version? PostgreSQL needed cygwin as i remember. So using them on
> unix platforms seems better to me).
>
> The thing is, i like sql server, thats why i want windows based server.
> But i can't be sure how it will perform with 1gb of ram and a cpu.
> (btw, my unix server would not be a 8gigs ram dual cpu one :) if i
> choose mysql, it will be limited to ~1gb of ram and one cpu too but as
> i said before, i will have a chance to upgrade hardware). I thought
> that i can expect an income from a site slows down with sql server
> express so i can afford a new license. But i have no idea how sql
> server uses resources.

The next step up from Express is Workgroup. That should cost you around
US$3700. So in your business plan you need to work out how many
purchases you'll need to justify that investment. Then test your
application with Express under a simulated load assuming you have that
number of subscriptions (i.e. the most you'll need before you can
upgrade). I expect you'll need to do some volumetric tests anyway in
order to determine the bandwidth you'll have to purchase.

No-one can tell you "X number of users in Express" because we don't
know what sort of resources your application will demand. Probably you
won't know either until you test it.

Hope this helps.

--
David Portas, SQL Server MVP

Whenever possible please post enough code to reproduce your problem.
Including CREATE TABLE and INSERT statements usually helps.
State what version of SQL Server you are using and specify the content
of any error messages.

SQL Server Books Online:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/ms130214(en-US,SQL.90).aspx
--

David Portas

2006-03-23, 8:24 pm

I should also mention that many hosting companies will lease you a SQL
Server as part of a package. You may find that works out cheaper than
an outright purchase.

--
David Portas, SQL Server MVP

Whenever possible please post enough code to reproduce your problem.
Including CREATE TABLE and INSERT statements usually helps.
State what version of SQL Server you are using and specify the content
of any error messages.

SQL Server Books Online:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/ms130214(en-US,SQL.90).aspx
--

David Gugick

2006-03-24, 3:23 am

David Portas wrote:
> That's not correct. There is no concurrency limit / workload governor
> in SQL Server Express. Scalability is limited only by the supported
> RAM and CPU.
> http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms165672.aspx
>

That's what I get for not rereading the release notes.

--
David Gugick - SQL Server MVP
Quest Software

Roger Wolter[MSFT]

2006-03-26, 3:23 am

You want to keep in mind that the 4GB database size is per database. If you
have a lot of different players, you may be able to split them among
multiple databases if the 4GB limit is the issue. If the issue is too many
simultaneous users for 1GB of memory then multiple instance of Express might
be a viable alternative.

--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
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<antimon@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1143139646.310835.104740@t31g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Hi,
>
> I am planning a web based game project. And i decided to go with
> asp.net + sql server.
> Since it is a personal project i want to use sql server express but i'm
> not sure about it. It's limitations are known to be 1gb ram, 1 cpu
> usage and 4gb db size. Since it is a game, i would expect people to
> stay online and cause lots of sql server calls.
>
> I mean, if i need an upgrade to stantard edition in a short time, well,
> i cannot afford it. I expect it to handle till i can make money for a
> better server. (If i never need it, no problem :) just considering a
> success case) Otherwise, going with php+mysql seems better since i can
> upgrade server hardware to boost performance. I will need to worry
> about rdbms license.
>
> How would express edition perform in a scenario like this? Or shall i
> go use mysql and php. Because i cannot afford a license for thousands
> of usd if i need it in a short time.
>

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