Beginning ASP.NET 4: in C# and VB

Appendix B. Configuring SQL Server 2008

So far, the exercises in the book assume that you are using Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express edition as the database for the Planet Wrox project. SQL Server 2008 Express edition is great for development because it's free, relatively lightweight, and easy to use. However, in a production environment it doesn't always cut it because it is limited in terms of processor and memory usage and database size. In cases where the Express edition is not enough, you need to look at its bigger brothers: the commercial versions of SQL Server 2008, such as the Standard or Enterprise Editions. In this appendix you will learn about security in SQL Server 2008, how to enable your SQL Server 2008 database and your ASP.NET 4 application to work together, and how to obtain and use SQL Server Management Studio Express, a free tool from Microsoft that lets you manage your database.

Although this appendix doesn't discuss SQL Server 2000 or 2005, you'll find that most of the concepts apply to these older versions of SQL Server as well. In fact, you can even use SQL Server 2008 Management Studio Express to manage your SQL Server 2000 and 2005 databases. The Appendix shows screen shots of an Express edition of SQL Server, but the exact same principles apply to the commercial versions of SQL Server.

In addition to configuring your SQL Server and ASP.NET 4 application to work together, this appendix also shows you how to configure a SQL Server database to support the ASP.NET ...