Randy,

>>I'm suprised no one mentioned using the MSDE.<

Hello? Didn't he say that some of his tables were approaching the 2gig limit? Doesn't MSDE have a 2gig limit per database??? (BTW, this is a touch of sarcasm in case you missed it. <g> )

~~Bonnie



>I'm suprised no one mentioned using the MSDE. Oh yeah - 10 user limit. But not necessarily. One of my clients has a building security system that uses MSDE as the data store, but allows many more than 10 users. They have an interface routine that runs on the server, their client talks to this interface, not the MSDE. Only one instance of this interface routine runs, thus only one connection to MSDE. It actually works out quite nicely. As they are a bigger shop also running Oracle and full-blown MS SQL Server, they already have DBA's, but they aren't required for this app. Since MSDE responds like SQL Server (since the engine is the same, really), I was able to easily add this new app to their backup schedule using backup Exec and the SQL Agent, so it gets backed up just like their 'real' SQL Server.
> IMO, I don't think you'll avoid the 'admininstrator' funciton any less with any other alternative - PostGRES, MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server - they all require about the same level of maintenence, although I don't find it to be an excessive amount if the app is cleanly written. Most things can be easily automated and added as simple menu choices in your app, the users will not need to access the SQL Enterprise Manager or equivalent.
> As another note, we vertical market an application (not ours, we are an authorized reseller and installation partner) for small and medium sized insurance agencies thatuses SQL Server on the backend. Insurance people are no more interested in being system administrators than people inthe medical field - and these things run for years with no one touching any administrative tools - the only thing they do is remember to plug a tape into the backup device every night. Yes, we provide support for these people, but as I even though I am probably the most experienced with SQL Server in our company, I never get called for anything at any of these clients. My feeling in this is this so-called demand for having some high level person on site and always available is a bunch of nonsense, a properly configured system does not and has never in my years of experience needed such close hand holding. Build it right, and it will run and run and run, bearing hardware faults. Provide proper data
>security (backups and such) and even a catastrophic hardware fault in the server might not even need a database 'expert' to fix.
>
> Randy