password limitations in SQL Server and MySql

Question

Does MySql 5.1 and SQL Server 2008 (Web edition, Standard) have any functional password limitations other than length limits? Are metacharacters in any form a bad idea to use, like bang, pipe, hash, any slash, carrot, and so on?

I know that MySql 5.1 has a password length limitation of 16 characters that is hardcoded, but I was wondering, are any metacharacters (i.e. non alphanumerics) a bad idea to use? And is this true in SQL Server 2008 Web edition, Standard?

So specifically: can symbols like:

/`~>:}{[]^ be used successfully?

I would hope it doesn't matter to the database, but I don't understand enough about password storage in enterprise database systems yet to know for sure, and I was looking for confirmation or an explanation.

Answer 1

 mysql> create user test identified by '/`~>:}{[]^';
 Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.13 sec)

yes - you can actually login now with this command line:

 C:\Documents and Settings\rbouman2>mysql -utest -h127.0.0.1 -P3351 -p
 Enter password: **********

I tried entering the password directly after -p, but that didn't work for windows - it thinks i want to invoke more if I do that. but I am 100% sure that's on the windows shell. MySQL itself feels this is a valid password.