What are some good database solutions that support Silverlight and are solid for a small-medium traffic website
Easy to use/Manage is a very strong plus
edit: Forgot to mention that the database needs to be very smartphone-friendly, it needs to be able to work with devices on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 7
It depends on what you term small-medium. I would say SQL Server Express should suit your needs.
It is free, but your database size cannot be more than 10 GB. It also limits the resources that can be used from the server.
http://www.microsoft.com/express/Database/Default.aspx
Silverlight is not bound to a database.
Every database available to ADO.NET is usable within .NET.
MSSQL Express is a good solution (especially in .NET env) as well as any other like MySQL.
SQL Server Express is a pretty obvious choice. Integrates very well, tons of first class documentation, very reliable, good management studio, upgradeable to more powerful versions etc.
Considering your edit, it appears to be a windows phone 7 app that you're going to make, and that you want the database stored on the phone (as opposed to connecting to an internet based datasource). In that case, you might want to take a look at SQL Server 2008 Compact.
Scott Hanselman has an article about using EF Code First with SQL Server Compact (His solution does not specifically include Silverlight, but it works just the same iirc) here.
Related
At the moment I am using Access & an OleDb connection to store data. I went down this route originally because I though that this was the best way for applications that I am distributing to my clients.
I would prefer to use something like SQL Server but is this a good idea for software I am distributing? Does the average Joe's PC have SQL Server pre-installed? If not, I suppose I can provide them with a link to download it for free?
Is there any better alternatives to Access / SQL Server?
You can use SQL Server CE and bundle the database with your application.
See this How to on MSDN.
You haven't really given enough information to answer this specifically but I'll answer generally:
Does the average Joe's PC have SQL Server pre-installed?
No.
If not, I suppose I can provide them with a link to download it for free?
Yes, Microsoft has fairly generous 'free' versions of SQL server Express for small database sizes (<1GB) and small numbers of CPU's (1). Check here.
Are there any better alternatives to Access / SQL Server?
It depends on your app, your skill and how you define better.
If you are running sql-server you can very easily use linq2sql and have strongly typed data base objects that offer clean vb.net code. The linq technologies are worth learning IMO. The tools in VS2010 work well with sql-server databases. Other more modern Microsoft tools are available too that integrate very easily (entity framework and lightswitch (which I don't have experience with)).
For small local databases sqlite works well. If your project is very small and the sql is simple this is a very light weight solution. This is very small and very fast and is used everywhere.
If a server is needed and low cost matters mysqlis a solid open source server though it is now under private ownership.
Again depending upon your application off-site hosting of a database might be a viable solution. I have a client that is still running their db in the cloud with a low cost 2008 SQL Server provider.
I am working on an enterprise level product that is designed around SQL Server Express and specifically its features (views, concurrent users, stored procedures, CASE and IF statements).
Though we don't use any advanced SQL Server features, the database size limit of 4GB in the Express edition may up being a limitation. A work-around is that customers can move to more full-featured versions of SQL Server.
The problem is that SQL Server Express deployment is not easy, and the installer size is huge. This is a major drawback for someone looking to try our product. You don't want end-users to not buy a product because the download is huge.
Does anyone have any recommendations of a database that has a smaller footprint but all the features of Express and which can be migrated to express?
Check out SQL Server Compact.
If what you really need is just a relational database, you can probably use SQL Server Compact Edition or SQLite.
It depends what you're looking for when you say "all the features of Express."
Edit after comments and edited question:
It sounds like you need Express, but I hear you about the huge installer size, which will be an issue even if you embed it in your own installer ( http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd981032(SQL.100).aspx).
You could also offer several trial options:
Use an existing SQL instance (small download + instructions to configure DB)
Full, self-contained trial (big download)
Demo trial (small download, single-user database; no server required)
That way companies that have running SQL/Express instances don't have to download the installer again, if they don't want it, and those who just want to see how it looks and feels can get the "demo" trial, and those who simply must have the full-fledged product are going to see and understand that the database server component is what is huge and they'll have to be a little patient for it (or call/E-mail you for a CD copy).
PostgreSQL is one of your options.
Its not smaller, around 35M packe and over 100M unpacked.
But it fits your requirements by the licensing model.
It has all the features.
You can make the deployment easy because you can preconfigure the binaries version you can supply with your own software.
Users will never need to migrate because this is powerful enough (ex. Skype uses it for its backend)
EDIT:
An interesting alternative may be Firebird (free, 7MB)
and maybe some commercial ones like NexusDB
Check this Wikipedia article: Comparison of relational database management systems.
There's more than 50 RDBMS's listed and you'll probably find something that suits your needs.
Which of the Database servers would you people recommend for using in a moderate-to-large scale (will vary from customer to customer) application.
I know MS SQL but since the app will be developed using delphi the .net framework is kind of annoying to deploy aswell. Also how realiable is Interbase.
Thanks in advance.
Since I have been developing in Firebird for several years now, if I were in your situation, I would look no further. The fact that you can develop your own extension library (udf library) in Delphi makes it very attractive to start with. Some of the new SQL constructs like the List aggregator and Common Table Expressions are icing on the cake. Deployment is very light (under 5 MB), and the support is excellent including incredible tools like IBExpert. I used MS SQL Server in a big company I worked at a few years ago and I would choose Firebird over MS SQL Server.
Data Access to SQL Server has nothing to do with the .NET framework. Delphi can connect just fine to SQL Server.
In terms of database engines that work with delphi, another you can consider is the Sybase Advantage Database server
Interbase is as reliable as they come. In fact, I'd like to get a job as an Interbase DBA, because I could uses the sleep.
I would definitely recommend looking at Interbase by Embarcadero or the open-source sibling, Firebird. Both are very well supported by Delphi by means of native, high-performance db-access components and such.
Interbase is a totally rock-solid database - I would put it on a par with SQL Server or Oracle. It's totally capable of handling medium to high traffic for at least 50-100 users concurrently, no problem at all.
Another two worth competitor would be Elevate DB and Nexus DB. Both grew out of Delphi file-based database systems, and both have been around for quite some time (in one form or another) and are well proven, widely used, well tested.
Marc
This seems back-to-front to me. I would choose the database server first, then select the development environment that works best with the selected database.
SQL Server. For 2005, you can make your own SQL Server deployment application that automates installing of Windows Installer 3.1, .NET Framework 2.0, SQL Server 2005 then installing the database through generatated SQL script (Feel free to contact me if you need help with it, I'd gladly help you). If you still insist on not installing .Net framework which is 22MB, I'd say go with SQL Server 2000 as you can still upgrade it to 2005+ when you'd like to.
Also, I had been using Advantage Database Server for few years and it's alright, Few DLLs to copy and you're ready to go even if you'd like to switch to remote version.
Both Server and Client installations of MS SQL require the .NET framework on the target machine. That's about it. If we can use ms sql without .net on target machine then ms sql is fine.
I have being developing in Delphi for about 6 years using distinct editions of SQL Server, and this database server behaved very very well. All of them were critical applications.
So, I would recommend you to keep with it.If you don't want to use .NET with and keep SQL Server I would recommend an older version pre-2005.
This isn't really an answer, but some things you might like to consider before making your mind up.
What do you mean by moderate-to-large scale? Do you mean by the number of concurrent users or by the amount of data being stored?
Are you going to be supporting the database as well when it's deployed, or might the customer have their own DBAs and want to incorporate it into their infrastructure team's remit?
Do you need to build-in complex features like auditing or granular security that some databases might provide out-of-the-box? Do you need to be able to run an overnight batch process on the database in some controlled manner?
Do you need to be able to have robust high-volume transactional support, or is it more for just using as a sink for reporting data? i.e. is it more OLTP or OLAP?
Are you limited by cost? i.e. does it need to be free/open-source, or can you select paid-for vendor product?
Both Firebird & Interbase are great, but not generally well-received into an "enterprise" environment in my experience unless they're "hands-off" and embedded into the application. MS SQL Server is a "safe-bet" for most systems. There is a cost associated with it but, as you know, it does come with a complete toolset and very good support.
If you do go down the Firebird or Interbase route then do take a look at Jason Wharton's IBObjects library which provides a high-performance replacement for BDE when using these databases. http://www.ibobjects.com/
Could the SQL Server IDE ever become an application development platform for enterprise applications? In a similar way to the old xBase applications, but, you know, better?
The main reason is that the Management Studio is one of the best “data centric” application I’ve ever used. It has most of the main ingredients for the proposed solutions:
powerful data manipulation language (SQL :o) )
good security
distributed architecture
The main features that it lacks:
a GUI toolkit: something simple and standard, enterprise applications usually don’t require fancy UIs
some form of automation (.Net, COM, I really don’t care as long as it works)
MS Office integration (especially Excel)
So…?
UPDATE:
The question above is a request for feedback on an idea. I'm not planning to use SSMS to build an interactive application in the near future. I would really like to hear what do you think about it and what other suggestions you might have (maybe there is already a product which does exactly that).
A shorter text for the question would be "If SSMS and MS Access could marry, how would their child look like?"
2nd UPDATE:
"Microsoft announces its new product codename 'Frankenstein'. The new product tries to combine the ease of development of database applications from the old Fox Pro and Access times, with the brand new SQL Server 2012 suite. As 'Frankenstein's Product Manager, Jim Bob, stated "[Frankenstein] will enable the developers to shut the f*#k up, and just build that thing already. Not spend their (highly remunerated) time arguing what's the best ORM, or AJAX toolkit, or should they use SOA etc... (btw, since 2009, SOA is dead)"
Well it depends on what way you look at it.
You can extend and build plugins for management studio but you can also use the visual studio shell as the base for new applications (altho I don't think this is what you want?)
However re-reading your question it looks like you actually want to build applications for SQL server. In that case you might want to check out Visual Studio Team Systems Database Edition
There's two risks involved with building applications on top of SQL Server Management Studio.
First, SQL Server Management Studio has been fairly consistent from 2005 to 2008, but that's only three years of release time. SQL Server 2000's tools were dramatically different, and there's no reason to expect SQL Server management tools to always remain the same.
For example, at the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) Summit in Seattle in 2008, Microsoft demoed a new management framework for SQL Server. The databases will be packaged and managed in a way quite different from what we're used to in SSMS. Project Kilimanjaro (think of it as SQL 2008 R2) will be the "down payment" on that management, with the rest of the tools coming in later versions. SSMS will look, feel and work differently in order to accomodate this new way of building database-driven applications.
Second, Microsoft's architecture for SSMS is not pluggable, and they haven't encouraged any third party development inside SSMS that I'm aware of. You can build some level of interactivity by using RDLC reports - standalone SQL Server Reporting Services applications that run inside SSMS - but for the most part, you're not encouraged to build atop SSMS because they do want the right to change it when they need to improve it.
I've got good news, though - you mentioned that you'd want some kind of Office tie-in. Keep your eye out for Project Gemini announcements. Donald Farmer did demos of it at PASS, and there's probably some video circulating around. It uses Excel as a front end for BI analytics, and they used million-row-spreadsheets that were storing data back in SQL. There's not much out out yet for the public, but keep your eyes peeled.
To answer the shorter question - Have you seen the various Frankenstein films?
The longer question - why would you want it to, you already have Visual Studio? SSMS is an excellent environment for developing stored procedures, queries, views and the like, lets leave it that way. And anyhow, the only good XBase environment was FoxPro and look where that ended up.
What are the different database options on Windows Mobile available?
I have used CEDB and EDB for linear dataset needs.
I have heard of SQL server 2005 Mobile edition. But what are the advantages over others (if there is any)
I've found both sqllite and codebase to be easy to implement and install. Easier (and more stable) than the Microsoft options, which seem to be in serious flux.
Also take a look at SQLite for Windows CE. There are also .NET bindings available to use it from the Compact Framework.
I think it's called SQL Server Compact now. The advantages are that it's syntax-compatible with full sql server in that any query you write for it is guaranteed to work on an equivalent SQL Server Express/Standard/Enterprise DB. The reverse isn't necessarily true, though.
Do you need SQL support? If not, look at a lightweight embeddable DBM-like solution. I've used Tokyo Cabinet for a number of embedded solutions where SQL wasn't necessary and have greatly enjoyed the speed and flexibility it provides. YMMV.
We use Sybase Ultralite. Before that we were using Codebase to connect to foxpro tables. I'm not a mobile developer but I understand we chose it over SQL Server for performance and memory usage. Also we found they had pretty good support when we found any issues.
I would avoid using CEDB any more as I beleave that WM7 is dropping support for it.