There are also memory limits that will prevent scaling to many users and heavy transaction loads that need to be looked at. This will prevent you from growing your database to be large. The most important limitation is that SQL Server Express does not support databases larger than 10 GB.

There are a number of limitations in terms of database size and resources that prevent SQL Server Express from being used for larger database loads. Add in some downtime and it is worth looking at SQL Server standard if you think you may outgrow the free version in the near future. The upgrade can be tricky and you should always have tested backup before the upgrade. A move from SQL Server Express to SQL Server Standard can be more costly then if you purchased SQL Server Standard at the start. If you are looking to install SQL Server you should look at these limits from not only the perspective of your present needs but also your future needs. It can be used for smaller shared databases but the limitations often force multi-user databases to use a paid version of SQL Server. SQL Server Express is a good solution for smaller database loads and is very often used as a back end for small applications that run on a single machine.

The answer is generally going to be governed by the size of the server that is required. We are often asked by clients if they need to buy a paid version of SQL Server since SQL can be quite expensive to purchase. The entry level version is SQL Server Express which is a limited version but is free. Microsoft SQL Server comes in multiple versions and the price points vary dramatically.

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