This installment of our series focuses on establishing, conducting, and terminating a sample Service Broker dialog in a distributed environment, leveraging previously established routes and dialog-level permission.  Read more...

As we all know SQL Server 2005 Express is a very powerful free edition of SQL Server 2005. However it does not contain SQL Server Agent service. Because of this scheduling jobs is not possible. So if we want to do this we have to install a free or commercial 3rd party product. This usually isn't allowed due to the security policies of many hosting companies and thus presents a problem. Maybe we want to schedule daily backups, database reindexing, statistics updating, etc. This is why I wanted to have a solution based only on SQL Server 2005 Express and not dependent on the hosting company. And of course there is one based on our old friend the Service Broker.  Read more...

In the latest articles of our series dedicated to SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, we have been discussing Service Broker. This article describes the initial setup of components required to demonstrate a distributed implementation, with initiator and target services residing on two separate computers.  Read more...

Marcin Policht explains the interaction of the primary elements of Service Broker's asynchronous messaging framework and describes a process of setting up the database objects necessary to demonstrate their sample implementation (which will be the subject of our next article).  Read more...

This article is a brief overview of Service Broker's core features, which are available (in a somewhat limited capacity) in SQL Server 2005 Express Edition. The next installment will describe a sample application illustrating its operations and discuss its management, security, and routing characteristics.  Read more...

In the previous installment of our series, we presented a variety of reasons that might influence your decision to upgrade a full-fledged member of the SQL Server 2005 family. This article discusses the actual implementation of this process, pointing out additional factors that might affect its complexity.  Read more...

Recent installments of this series have demonstrated SQL Server 2005 Express Edition's replication characteristics by taking advantage of replication-specific executables and T-SQL code combined with Windows Synchronization Manager and Web Synchronization technologies. This article explores another method of reaching the same goal, which involves Replication Management Objects (RMO).  Read more...

We have been discussing SQL Server 2005 Express Edition replication-specific features, investigating authentication mechanisms that are available in order to accommodate connection attempts from remote clients interacting with SQL Server-based distributor via Internet Information Services. We will continue coverage of this topic here.  Read more...

Part 18 of this series explores several scenarios in which the Merge Web Synchronization can be applied and describes their implementation details.  Read more...

In this article, we will explore another variation of this mechanism, called Web Synchronization, with SQL Server 2005 Express Edition instances operating as merge replication subscribers connecting to a publisher via HTTPS protocol.  Read more...

Marcin Policht provides a step-through sample implementation of transactional and merge replication.  Read more...

SQL Server 2005 Express Edition's small footprint and free-of-charge use has some negative implications, imposing restrictions on functionality available in the Standard or Enterprise editions. This is especially conspicuous in the case of replication, which we will explore starting with this installment.  Read more...

Part 11 of this series presented the publishing options of ClickOnce-capable applications that involve User Instance-based databases. This article takes a closer look at the deployment process, demonstrating the impact of your selections on its characteristics.  Read more...

Part 11 of the series focuses on the process of deploying and maintaining user instance-based applications that employ ClickOnce technology.  Read more...

SQL Server 2005 Express Edition's unique functionality allows you to distribute and implement single-user databases, without the dependency of having administrative privileges or the need for a cumbersome configuration. This article illustrates the practical use of this feature, known as XCopy deployment.  Read more...

Part 8 of our series provides an overview of User Instance model (also known as “Run As Normal User” or simply RANU) and automatic database connectivity, which serve as two primary enablers for XCopy deployment, facilitating distribution of single-user databases.  Read more...

In our new article, we will continue coverage of this topic by describing other activities that alter default connectivity settings applied during standard installation, focusing in particular on encryption.  Read more...

In this article, we will continue exploring other post-setup tasks, focusing on network specific tasks.  Read more...

SQL Server 2005 Express Edition and the SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) are both free and redistributable. Each product provides a medium where database administrators can work between MS Access and the full version of SQL Server. But there are key differences to consider.   Read more...

This article demonstrates how you can use Surface Area Configuration utility in order to modify some of the security-related settings that have been applied during installation of SQL Server 2005 Express Edition.  Read more...

An easy to use .NET solution for Job Scheduling, with pluggable actions, that runs on a Windows Service. Backup your SQL Server Express and much more!  Read more...

Marcin Policht offers an overview of choices offered in the SQL Server 2005 product line, as an introduction to a new series on the Express edition.  Read more...

Part 3 of this series describes the installation process of different versions of SQL Server 2005 Express Edition in more detail, including changes introduced in its Service Pack 2.   Read more...