Editing SME and SQL Express

SQL Express is limited in some important ways:

<br>1)      The amount of memory that can be used per instance is limited to 1 gig. (Note that because we do processes outside of SQL in the operating systems CLR, Common language runtime, the actual usage will be above the 1 gig limit. I’ve seen Express take up to 1.5 – 2.0 gigs of memory so MS is not consistent in how they throttle it).
<br>2)      The CPUs are limited to one. (In 2012 it is “The lesser of one socket or four cores”.  (this is an improvement over earlier versions but still a limit)
<br>3)      The database size is limited to 10 gigs.
<br>4)      Express versions also go into ‘idle mode’ if the database is not used for a period of time (means the first person to start using SME after a period of inactivity, companywide, will notice a slower program until SQL rewrites the cashed query processes which improve speed).
 
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<br>Given those restraints we would advocate going with a full version, if you can possibly afford it. The licensing for SQL is a bit of a maze to work through so you may need to work with someone that knows the best license scenario to purchase. Standard Edition should be adequate.