When to use SQL Server Standard instead of Express?

[BackupDude]

Greetings Everyone,

We are building a Veeam solution primarily designated for customers (Backup as a Service Solution). We currently use Veeam to backup our production environment which consists of around 80 VMs and about 20TB of data. This second instance of Veeam will be independent of our production instance.

I have been unable to find in-depth information regarding the usage of SQL Server Standard over Express except for a small blurb on page 145 of the veeam_backup_7_userguide_vmware.pdf that states the following:

Due to its limitations, Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition should only be used for evaluation purposes or in case of a small-scale production environment. For environments with a lot of VMs, it is necessary to install a fully functional commercial version of Microsoft SQL Server.

The current database size in our production environment is around 270MB and its uses SQL Express 2005. SQL Express 2008R2 is now included in Veeam 7. This version of express supports up to 10GB databases but with the same limitations in terms of CPU cores and memory usage.

I am trying to find the justification to purchase a SQL Server standard license instead of using the express edition for this environment.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[Vitaliy S.]

Hi Fabio!

For your environment SQL Server Express should be more than enough. Please see this existing topic for more clarifications > V6 Veeam backup server - SQL database edition question (it is an old topic, but still applicable to the current version).

Hope this helps!

[BackupDude]

Thanks again Vitaliy.

Since we are creating a cloud provider type model, I will recommend the use of SQL Server standard. The driving force around this decision is to allow easier rebuild of the Veeam server in case something goes wrong with it. Plus, we will be deploying Veeam enterprise manager on a separate VM and using the same SQL Server to hold the database.

[Vitaliy S.]

Ok, makes sense. BTW, we have a built-in utility that dumps Veeam backup server configuration with all the jobs into a backup file that you can further use if something goes wrong with your Veeam backup installation. Here is more info on this > Veeam Configuration Backup Utility

[cfvonner]

I'm getting ready to consolidate multiple Veeam servers for different vSphere environments (each workgroup has their own vCenter server) into a single Veeam server for a single converged vSphere/vCenter environment. Starting out, there will be 7 vSphere hosts and 40-60 VMs.

The Veeam Availability Suite v8 System Requirements document states:

Due to its limitations, Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition can only be used for evaluation purposes or in case of a small-scale production environment. For environments with a lot of VMs, it is necessary to install a fully functional commercial version of Microsoft SQL Server.

That's a bit vague. What constitutes a small-scale production environment? How many hosts/VMs is that? Do I need to be planning to deploy a standalone SQL Server Standard Edition server to support Veeam?

[foggy]

Carl, please see above for the answers. Thanks.

[cfvonner]

@foggy,

Thanks. I did a search on the forum and didn't see that post previously, so I appreciate you steering me in the right direction.

-Carl V.

[anthony.yip]

Hi everyone. Just wanted to clarify with you all. How many VMs SQL Express can support up to ? I just found some new Important message from Veeam System requirement page. "Due to its limitations, Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition can only be used for evaluation purposes or in case of a small-scale production environment. For environments with a lot of VMs, it is necessary to install a fully functional commercial version of Microsoft SQL Server."

Imagine my environment have 800 Vms. Does SQL express can be used in such case ?

Appreciate for the responses.

-Anthony Y.

[foggy]

Anthony, please see our latest recommendations in this thread. Thanks.

[bjdboyer]

have a new customer coming on board and they will be their own Veeam environment. It will be around 250 VM's and around 100TB of usable (not used) disk. At what point should I use a full SQL server as opposed to the SQL Express installed with Veeam? And should I consider the SQL it's own server or make sure the Veeam server has enough resources to run both? There will be at least 1 physical proxy/repository server and tape GFS processing. at what point do you think about using a full SQL implementation instead of the SQL Express?

Thanks
Bill

[PTide]

Hi,

Please review the thread and take a look at this article, the same rules apply to v9 as well.

Thanks