What are the advantages / disadvantages of using mdf server vs sql db

Question

What is the difference between using the SQL Express.mdf file and the actual SQL Server database? Why don't I use the .mdf file for everything? Is there a size or performance limitation that tells me to use SQL Server DB? I am currently using the actual SQL Server database for each project I am working on, so I'm just curious to see if the .mdf file can be more economical.

Answer 1

SQL Express runs only one scheduler, so it can mainly use only one processor. It imposes a hard limit of 4 GB on the size of the database. It will not use more than 1 GB of RAM. And many features are limited by license, like some replication scenarios. Check out the full comparison here .

Answer 2

SQL Server Express has features that are deliberately removed to make them less useful. For example, databases are limited to 4 GB and can only use 1 GB of RAM. I recommend that you familiarize yourself with FOSS databases, such as PostgreSQL and MySQL , that do not limit you this way.