WSS 3.0 Internal Database

Question

What is the internal storage mechanism of WSS 3.0? Does it need SQL Server 2005 or can we use SQL Server 2005 Embedded Edition automatically installed with WSS 3.0? If yes then what is the limit of the content for a web application if it uses SSEE?

Let say I have created a web application in WSS 3.0 then how much data can be stored within it? How much data can I store for lists and document libraries? How many folders can I create inside a document library?

Answer 1

This is quite a common misconception - the paranoid amongst us may even thing that MSFT doesn't do much to clear this up as it pushes people along the route of buying SQL Server...

Tin hats away though ...

• When you use the "Basic" install option during MOSS 2007 installation it does install and use SQL Server 2005 Express Edition (see Stand alone installation) and you do have a 4GB limit.

• When you use the "Basic" install option during WSS 3.0 installation it DOES NOT use SQL Express, it uses something called Windows Internal Database and it DOES NOT have a 4GB size limit.

Its hard to find an authoritative reference on this (tin hats again) but this one by Mark Walsh and marked as correct by an MSFT moderator is about the best I can find.

Answer 2

Beside the database limitation there are some other SharePoint limitations and advises regarding the numbers of items per library or numbers of site collections per web application or content database.

MOSS Limitations 1

MOSS Limitations 2

Answer 3

It uses SQL Server 2005 Express Edition which I believe has a limit of 4GB per database. You could create multiple content databases for separate site collections but there may also be some performance limitations in the express edition.

Here is a page that compares editions: http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2005/en/us/compare-features.aspx

Answer 4

Josh pretty much has the answer. As for the "how many documents and lists and whatevers" question, the answer is "as many as you want so long as you don't slam into the 4gb limit."

I'd also note that if you start getting near that 4gb limit, you can always upgrade to full-blown SQL server with very minimal pain so it is a decent place to start.

The real place it falls down is management tools (ie--backup), but you can script that from the command line pretty effectively.

Answer 5

When installing SharePoint 2007 you can specify the SQL Server database to connect to yourself. If you don't do this SharePoint will use the Windows Internal Database, otherwise known as WYukon. This database is not the same as SQL Express and there's two key differences. (1) WYukon isn't artificially limited in database size or performance. (2) You can't connect to a WYukon database with a regular database connection string.

Here's a link with some (minimal) information about WYukon.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=30A7365B-91C5-4C28-85A5-9AB861168C0E

Regards, Paul