Installing a database

If your website uses a database, and you are hosting the test site on one of your development machines, you will need to install a database server.

Downloading

If you do not have a copy of SQL Server you can legally install on a new machine, there are two free options:

  • Use the free SQL Server Express. This edition limits databases to 4 GB, and uses only 1 CPU and 1 GB of memory. You will want to install the Advanced Services edition of SQL Server Express, because it has some very useful additional features, such as Full Text search.

    To download SQL Server 2008 with advanced services, open http://www.microsoft.com/express/Database/default.aspx, and then click on the Installation Options tab. There, you will find the download ...

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