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I am developing a software which requires SQL Server. But for a 50MB application it is not a good idea to tell customers to install SQL Server. So I think it's better to use SQL Server Express LocalDB.

I want to give feature of accessing my app from Local Area Network. But I am not getting any related topics to do this.

Is it possible to access SQL Server Express LocalDB on Local Area Network?

What are the limitations of SQL Server Express LocalDB compared to SQL Server?

Andreas
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IT researcher
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2 Answers2

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LocalDB cannot be accessed remotely, it's by design and documented.

Here is a description of LocalDB.

Here is a list of LocalDB features and limitations.

I don't see how installing SQL Server can be a problem. 120 MB is not that big nowadays even for small applications. You can embed the setup in your application and ship SQL Express with your setup kit. If you need a SQL Server Edition with a small footprint, consider using SQL Server Compact Edition.

RoastBeast
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spaghettidba
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The mdf/ldf files can reside on a server share but I believe only one PC can access the files/database at a time (i.e. no concurrent access from multiple clients running their own LocalDB instance). That's dissimilar to MS Access where multiple PCs can connect to a shared mdb file residing on a server share.

From the documentation:

The LocalDB files can only be opened by one instance of LocalDB at a time.

Mike Lowery
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