SQL Server Express 2005 vs SQL Server Express 2008 | SQL Server Express 2005 vs 2008
SQL Server is a relational model database server produced by Microsoft. And SQL Server Express is a scaled down version of SQL Server which is free. SQL Server Express 2008 (which is the scaled down version of SQL Server 2008 R2) followed the SQL Server Express 2005 (the scaled down version of SQL Server 2005). SQL Server Express has some limitations compared to the full version. One notable technical restriction is the absence of full capabilities of Analysis, Integration and Notification services. But all in all, the Express edition is great for learning purposes because it can be used free for building small scale desktop and web applications.
SQL Server Express 2005
SQL Server Express 2005 is the scaled down version of SQL Server 2005, which is freely downloadable. But it has limitations compared to SQL Server 2005. When it comes to scalability and performance, the number of supported physical CPUs is only 1. It requires a minimum of 1 GB RAM. 64-bit is supported but only as WOW (Windows on Windows). The limitation on database size is 4 GB. When it comes to manageability, the database is automatically tuned for optimum performance. It includes a single profiler. SQL Server Express 2005 has all security features offered in SQL Server 2005 including advanced auditing, authentication, authorization, built-in data encryption and Microsoft baseline security analyzer integration. SQL Server Express 2005 can exchange messages with other editions, however messages between two instances must be sent through another edition. Express 2005 offers Merge and Transaction replication.
SQL Server Express 2008
SQL Server Express 2008 is the scaled down version of SQL Server 2008 R2. So, it has limitations compared to SQL Server 2008 R2. SQL Server Express 2008 is freely downloadable. SQL Server Express 2008 supports a single physical CPU and requires 1 GB Memory. It has a database size of 10 GB, and fully supports both x32 and x64 hardware. SQL Server Express 2008 offers SQL Server change tracking. Not only that, it offers Merge, Transactional and Snapshot replication. In terms of enterprise security, it supports C2 compliant tracing. Enterprise manageability tools such as Hypervisor support, database migration tools, policy-based management and SQL server management tools are provided.
What is the difference between SQL Server Express 2005 and SQL Server Express 2008?
SQL Server Express 2008 is the Express Edition, which followed SQL Server Express 2005. Therefore, SQL Server Express 2008 offers more features than SQL Server Express 2005.
– SQL Server Express 2008 has a large improvement over SQL Server Express 2005 in terms of database size.
– Unlike Express 2005, Express 2008 offers Snapshot replication.
– Database mirroring is not available with Express 2005, but Express 2008 can be used as the witness server for database mirroring.
– Full-text search, which is not present in 2005, is available in Express 2008 (with advanced services download).
– Reporting services are not offered in 2005, while a limited/partial version of Reporting services has been added to 2008.