Addon SQL Space? Upload/download .mdf?

Discussion in 'Pre-sales questions' started by MarkP, Sep 2, 2010.

  1. MarkP

    MarkP Guest

    Hi,

    Having had a quick look around it seems your service is simple and low cost.
    However I have a couple of questions regarding the practicalities of hosting a SQL Server 2008 database with you.

    Firstly, I'm wondering what options you offer for extending database size?

    For example if I signed up for Winhost Max it looks like I get up to 500MB.
    If the database grows and looks like breaking that what are the options?
    I assume I could upgrade to Winhost Ultimate and get 1500MB.
    Are there any options beyond that?
    Would I receive warnings in advance? Would I have to move everything over to another host offering greater capacity?

    Second question, having had a quick read through some of the posts on here I'm a bit confused as to the options for transferring a SQL database between my local computer and my hosted account.

    Can I simply upload and download a .mdf file?
    Or is it more complicated?

    Thanks,
    Mark
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 14, 2015
  2. Ray

    Ray

    I'm afraid we do not have a feature where we can simply add more space to the SQL account. The quota limit for each plan is set. If you need to gain more SQL space then you will need to upsize to the next higher plan. If you are already on the Ultimate plan then I'm afraid we cannot give you more SQL space. Bear in mind that the Ultimate plan gives you 1500 MB of SQL space. This is data SQL space alone. Web space and email space are completely separate. If you are consuming 1500 MB of SQL space, then you may want to consider looking at a dedicated SQL hosting or hosting your own SQL server. 1500 MB is quite a lot of space to store data on.

    As for attaching or restoring your local database to our SQL server, you will have several options. You can use the "Database Publishing Wizard" which we have tested and verified to work on our system. Or you can use the Restore/Backup tool offered to you in the Winhost control panel. If you have an Ultimate plan, you will also get a Attach feature. Unlike the Restore feature which can only take a database backup (.bak), the Attach tool can take a .MDF file and automatically attach it to our SQL server and to your database. You may want to look at these KB articles.

    http://support.Winhost.com/KB/a694/publishing-your-sql-2008-database-to-Winhost-sql-2008-server.aspx
    http://support.Winhost.com/KB/a771/how-do-i-generate-or-restore-a-backup-of-my-database.aspx

    Also keep in mind, not only you get MS SQL 2008 with your hosting package but MySQL. This too is on a separate server and what ever space is allotted to the plan you choose does not encroach on the alloted space to your SQL 2008 database.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 14, 2015
  3. MarkP

    MarkP Guest

    Hi Ray,

    Thanks for the reply.

    I'm a long way off the 1500MB maximum database size yet, just planning ahead for when I'm the next Amazon...

    OK, so it seems it's possible to attach a .MDF file but only with the Ultimate Plan. Outside of that it looks like it's scripting the database.

    Apologies if these are beginner's questions, it's my first time attempting something like this:

    1. What would be the normal method used for editing/adding schema and stored procedures for the online database? (I had been thinking it was transferring the .mdf back to my local machine eg via ftp, making changes, testing and then uploading back via ftp, but it doesn't sound like that is possible. )

    2. When the time eventually comes that I eventually outgrow the 1500MB and need to move the database to a dedicated host how do I get my database back? (As in retrieve the .mdf file to my local machine not a .bak file).


    Thanks,
    Mark
     
  4. Ray

    Ray

    Actually this is not correct. Remember, you can still backup your local database, upload the .bak file to our web server and run the Restore procedure. This is easier then running the database publishing wizard and it is available on the Basic and Max plan.

    The typical method is using SQL Server Management Studio. This is free for download from Microsoft and you can use it to connect to our SQL server directly and add all these objects to our SQL server.

    http://www.microsoft.com/express/database/
    http://support.Winhost.com/KB/a689/how-to-connect-to-sql-server-2008-using-sql-server.aspx

    When you have an account, you will also have a tool to backup your database in real time. You may want to view our Control Panel demo link and you can see all the features and tools provided for you in the Winhost control panel.

    https://demo.Winhost.com/default.aspx
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 14, 2015
  5. MarkP

    MarkP Guest

    OK, I'm reasonably familiar with SSMS.
    Do you know if it is also possible to connect to your SQL Server directly from the Server Explorer window in Visual Studio?


    Ok, but from my understanding this creates a .BAK file? Rather than a copy of a .MDF file?
    I can see how I could use a .BAK to restore my database on your server, but could I use the same .BAK to restore it on a different server?

    Thanks,
    Mark
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 14, 2015
  6. Ray

    Ray

    Yes, you can use Server Explorer in VS to connect to our SQL server and manage your database. However, keep in mind that Server Explorer is limited and does not have all the features that SSMS will have. But you can still use it.

    You can take the .BAK file our server generates for you when you run the Backup tool and take it to any database whether it is another database we host or your local database and restore it on that server.
     
  7. MarkP

    MarkP Guest

    Many thanks for the quick and clear responses, you're a great advert for Winhost!

    I do have one more question (sorry!) but as it's on a different subject I'll post it under a new topic.

    Thanks,
    Mark
     

Share This Page