Is there any limitation on the total number of TEM Clients when using an implementation with SQL Server Express 2005? In other words, am I restricted to ‘X’ TEM Clients (technical and license-wise) if I use SQL Server Express?
From what I’ve seen so far, my first guess is a “no”; however, a Support article (
As far as I know, there aren’t self-imposed limits from TEM, but you’re definitely bound by the limits of SQL Express. SQL Express 2008R2 (not sure why you’d still use 2005?) limits are at this link
. 1 CPU, 1GB Memory (RAM), 10GB DB Size. I don’t think later versions of SQL Express impose the connection limits, and the architecture in TEM 8.2 changed so that console connections go through the root server instead of connecting directly to the SQL server, so I believe that limitation is gone.
In my opinion, the 1GB memory limit is the biggest bottleneck. When MS SQL doesn’t (or can’t) have a lot of RAM to utilize for caching, it has to go to disk for more queries, which will kill your performance, especially if you have slow disks and no hardware RAID controller with read/write caching. Compared to upgrading your storage, RAM is a very low cost way to significantly improve the performance of SQL Server. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend SQL Express for any production deployment.
These pages have some sizing/performance recommendations:
Bottom line: If your TEM deployment project is anything more than a handful of clients and 1 or 2 console operators, and you want it to be successful, buy SQL Server licenses and invest in hardware that will meet both your current and future needs.