Quote:You are offering a tool to migrate a MS-SQL database to VistaDB. I understand that some people use it and it is nice to exist.
You can get just about anything into SQL Server from another database. Then you can get it into VistaDB as well. So if a company has any existing database and can get it to SQL Server then they can get it to us without having to code something.
Quote:The most common situation in real word scenarios is a client to buy a single user application (with embedded VistaDB) and then would like to upsize to a multiuser solution. None ever asked me to go from a multiuser version to the single user version.
Actually our most common user scenario is that they have a server database and are asking users to deploy SQL Express to their desktop. Users do not want to do this, so they need a way to make a desktop version of their database.
The second most common is a company that has a server database and now wants to make a desktop version for very small companies, or single users. They have no way to address this market right now, and want a minimum version to install to desktop and have same datatypes, etc. The want a way to use the same database code (or as close as possible), but the desktop product is a new SKU for them, so they are going to have to test it anyway.
Quote:Things would be much easier if we could have a server version of VistaDB. That way I would be sure that everything that works in the embedded version would work in the server version and vice versa.
If I could snap my fingers and make it happen then it would already be here. Just saying Server means a LOT to a lot of people. Not simple local service to hold open desktop database (as Firebird and VistaDB 2.x were). But a server.
VistaDB 2.x server had the same feature. Ability to only change connection string. The reality of this means you always have to include the client server and desktop engines in the same provider. This is a lot of overhead for a desktop provider, but it is able to be done.
I don't know if we will have that simple of an ability or not. It is certainly a goal of ours, but I don't like to talk about features specifics because someone will be pointing to this post 5 years from now trying to quote me on it.
The problem with doing this is that a server really needs background writer threads, and lots of other performance changes. Doing that in a single file is problematic. You usually need something like the SQL Server log file to avoid corruption of the primary file in the event of a failure. That does not mean you would not be able to "backup" a server database to a normal database file... But I do not know if keeping a single file is practical for a real server.
Quote:Is the project CornerStone the server version of vistadb? Can we have any estimate dates (+/- 1 year) for the vistadb server?
Cornerstone is something much bigger than that, but I am not ready to discuss it yet.
I am not publishing timeframes, sorry. The cost to build a server is HUGE. By the time we finish the cost will be over $1 million USD. You can't sell that type of system at $300 per developer royalty free. We would never recoup our costs.
I am not sure that trying to compete with SQL Server on a full blown server is the right place for us to be. There is just WAY too high an expectation for people when you mention SQL Server in the same sentence as your product. Firebird and other LAN servers are not in the same league and you don't expect it. But if you said Firebird was SQL Server compatible suddenly people will start wanting to run OLAP on it and it can't handle that type of load.
There are lots of ways to build your own service that acts as a local server for your application. A general purpose server is a big deal. Building a service that encapsulates your DAL and talks over a LAN is quite easy these days. You could also use things like ADO.NET Data Services to build a custom server for your app against a VistaDB database in a few weeks. ADO.NET Data Services does require Entity Framework, but you can take the same concepts to any local area service for a custom application. The requirements are not the same as a general purpose server.
I have been working on a blog post with the various models for applications around VistaDB. It includes graphs showing the basic design and complexity of implementation. The blog post is not done yet though... Maybe over the holiday I will get some more time to write.
Jason Short