Databases Used With Enabler

The Enabler uses a Microsoft SQL Server database to store configuration and historical information.

Our installation CD includes the free version of Microsoft SQL Server (SQL Server 2005 Express, or in older versions MSDE 2000 or MSDE 1.0).

As an integrator you are free to choose another version of the Microsoft SQL Server for performance/reliability reasons, or depending on the features you require. The following database versions have been used successfully with The Enabler:

MSDE 1.0
SQL Server 7.0
SQL Server 2000 Desktop Edition (aka MSDE 2000)
SQL Server 2000
SQL 2005 Express Edition
SQL 2008 Express Edition

Enabler has not yet been tested with the full versions of SQL Server 2005 or SQL Server 2008. If using either of these is a priority for you, please contact us.

Maintenance

For optimum performance and reliablity we recommend you install the latest service pack for the database version you are using. See Service Packs for SQL Server

We have observed that using MSDE 1.0 on Windows XP causes very slow operation with Enabler Configuration. Updating to MSDE service pack 4 fixes this issue.

For client computers, connecting to the Enabler database, you should check for MDAC (Microsoft Data Access Components) updates. See the Microsoft MDAC site. Generally, you can use the latest update available.

SQL2005 Express Edition

SQL2005 Express Edition is the next version of MSDE. The following are the software prerequisites in the target windows platform.

Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) v2.8
Internet Explorer 6.1 Service Pack 1
Windows MSI 3.1 Installer
.NET 2.0 Framework

The Enabler Installer is packaged with the Windows MSI 3.1 Installer and the .NET 2.0 Framework redistributables. For Internet Explorer, see Download IE 6.0 Service Pack 1

For the complete list of SQL 2005 Express Edition hardware and software requirements, see SQL2005 Express Edition Requirements.

MSXML Error When Installing SQL2005

The SQL2005 install may fail if MSXML SP2 or SP3 is already installed. SQL2005 also installs MSXML and sometimes is unable to remove the existing MSXML package resulting in the SQL2005 install failing.

This is a known issue to Microsoft and they have provided a workaround here. The workaround involves removing the current MSXML package on the system and then reinstalling SQL2005 (or re-installing Enabler if using the SQL2005 that comes with Enabler).

SQL2005 and Administrator users

With SQL2005 Express, only the specific Administrator will have administrator rights or trusted connection rights to the database. This may prevent Enabler's pump server and other components to connect to the database. To fix this, you may either:

Add the user as one of the Database Administrators using the SQL2005 Surface Manager tool; Or
Set the machine machine in a WORKGROUP instead of a domain. The logged-in user may not have access priveleges in the domain to connect to the database.

SQL2008 Express Edition

SQL2008 Express Edition is the latest edition. The following are the software prerequisites in the target windows platform.

Windows MSI 4.5 Installer (or later)
.NET 3.5 Framework with Service Pack 1

The Enabler Installer is packaged with the Windows MSI 4.5 Installer and the .NET 3.5 Framework redistributables.

For the complete list of SQL 2008 Express Edition hardware and software requirements, see SQL2008 Express Edition Requirements.

Full vs Free Editions

The free SQL Server editions generally function the same as the full versions, except that Microsoft deliberately limits them in certain ways to prevent them being used for major installations with multiple clients - such as web servers. The following limitations are known:

The management applications are not included - you must use direct SQL or another program to manage.
Database size is limited to 2GB in MSDE and 4GB in SQL2005/08 Express Edition
MSDE can use up to 2GB of system RAM, SQL2005/08 Express Edition up to 1GB
Prior to SQL2005, a 'query governor' limits the performance slightly: if more than 8 simultaneous queries are used, the database will add a small delay to each query.
For multi CPU systems (or multi-core CPUs) MSDE is capable of using up to two CPU cores, SQL2005/08 Express Edition can use only one CPU core.

The limitations on the free editions will usually not matter to Enabler itself. If your application uses MSDE, SQL2005 Express Edition or SQL2008 Express Edition, you may need to consider upgrading to a full version of the database on systems where more than one or two Clients are used, or if you need to store a lot of data.