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Brian Cryer's Glossary of IT Terms with Links

MSDE

MSDE
Microsoft Data Engine. SQL Server compatible database engine that can be distributed royalty free with applications built using Visual Studio or Office 2000 (some conditions may apply). See also MSDE 1.0 and MSDE 2000.

The main differences between MSDE and SQL Server are that MSDE has a limit of 5 concurrent connections and it does not come with any management tools (such as SQL Server's Enterprise Manager and Query Analyzer). However an MSDE database can be managed using SQL Servers management tools. It also has a maximum 2GB database size, and may limit the number of databases on a single machine.

MSDE has been superseded by SQL Server 2005 Express Edition. SQL Server 2005 Express Edition provides the same functionality as MSDE but is built upon a more up to date kernel and is distributed free by Microsoft.

For more information see: