Comparing MSDE 1.0 to SQL Server 7.0July 11, 2001 IntroductionOften people in newsgroups ask about some comparison of MSDE and SQL Server 7.0. In this article, I want to describe the differences between the Microsoft Data Engine and SQL Server 7.0 in terms of cost, licensing, hardware and software requirements and restrictions. The comparisonMSDE stands for the Microsoft Data Engine. Microsoft Data Engine is a client/server data engine that is compatible with SQL Server 7.0, but it has some restrictions and is intended for single users or for small workgroups with up to five computers. You can use MSDE as a back-end database in a workgroup with more than five computers, but it tends to be very slow in such environments. Hardware and Software RequirementsTo install SQL Server 7.0, you should have the following hardware:
SQL Server 7.0 can work under Windows 95, Windows 95 OSR2, Windows 98, Windows NT Server/Workstation 4.0 with Service Pack 4 and Windows 2000 (all editions). SQL Server 7.0 also requires Internet Explorer 4.01 with Service Pack 1 or later, or Internet Explorer 5.0 or later. To install MSDE 1.0, you should have the following hardware:
The MSDE 1.0 works under Windows 95, Windows 95 OSR2, Windows 98, Windows NT Server/Workstation 4.0 with Service Pack 4 and Windows 2000 (all editions). Unlike SQL Server 7.0, the Microsoft Data Engine doesn't require Internet Explorer. MSDE RestrictionsBecause Microsoft Data Engine is intended for a single user or for a small workgroup with up to five computers, it has some restrictions in comparison with SQL Server 7.0. These restrictions include:
Pricing and LicensingMicrosoft Data Engine is not sold as a separate product. MSDE is available to any licensed customer of Office 2000 Professional, Office 2000 Premium edition, or licensed customer of any Visual Studio 6.0 edition or any Professional or Enterprise edition of any Visual Studio 6.0 language tool (such as Visual Basic 6.0, Visual C++ 6.0, Visual InterDev 6.0, Visual J++ 6.0, or Visual FoxPro 6.0). Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 is no longer sold, as Microsoft now promotes SQL Server 2000 as its back-end database server. But if you have existing solutions on SQL Server 7.0, you may still acquire additional licenses by taking advantage of the SQL Server 2000 "downgrade rights." These rights enable you to buy SQL Server 2000 licenses, but install and use the previous version (i.e. v7.x) for a reasonable period of time. See this link about SQL Server 2000 Pricing and Licensing http://www.microsoft.com/sql/howtobuy/pricing/default.asp Unlike SQL Server 7.0, MSDE solutions can be distributed royalty-free, i.e. you don't need to buy Client Access License, if your application uses Microsoft Data Engine as a back-end. Some useful tipsUpgrading from MSDE to SQL ServerMSDE data engines are the same as SQL Server 7.0 data engines. So, all database objects created in MSDE (such as tables, views, stored procedures and so on) will operate without any modifications in a SQL Server 7.0 database. There are two ways to upgrade an MSDE solution to SQL Server 7.0:
When you upgrade MSDE to SQL Server 7.0, you can receive the following error:
This error occurs when you tried to upgrade the MSDE that came with the Office 2000 developer edition. You'll need to edit some registry entries in this case. You should amend to have a value of 7.00.623. See this link for more details: FIX: Upgrade to SQL Server Fails When MSDE Installed from MOD Creating and designing MSDE databasesMicrosoft Data Engine does not have its own GUI interface for database design. MSDE is shipped with only osql utility, but it's difficult to create and manage databases from the command prompt. So, you can create and manage MSDE databases via the Access 2000 User Interface or via the Visual Studio development environment. If you are a licensed customer of any Visual Studio 6.0 edition or any Professional or Enterprise edition of any Visual Studio 6.0 language tool (such as Visual Basic 6.0, Visual C++ 6.0, Visual InterDev 6.0, Visual J++ 6.0, or Visual FoxPro 6.0), you can have SQL Server 7.0 Developer Edition manage MSDE databases. The SQL Server 7.0 Developer Edition is shipped with MSDE for Visual Studio 6.0, and is provided on the CDs that can be ordered from http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/msde/ With SQL Server 7.0 Developer Edition, you can manage MSDE databases by using Enterprise Manager. You can create you own administration tool for MSDE, because Microsoft provides SQL Distributed Management Objects (SQL-DMO) and SQL Namespace (SQL-NS) COM libraries with Microsoft Data Engine. See the following article by Danny J. Lesandrini for more information: Create Your Own Administration Tool for MSDELiterature
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