SQL Server Authentication

Question

Hello,

I'm new to SQL Server 2008...

I have a C# application where:

• the users are authenticated at application level with a login form
• after their login the application connects to the DB by using the same SQL Server Account (SQL Server Authentication) for each user

My question is: Is there any limit on the number of users which can connect by using the same account with SQL Server Authentication?

Thank you.

Answer 1

I certainly don't believe this to be the case - this is fairly common practice so it's doubtful that it's limited (apart from the 32000+ connection limit).

Answer 2

According to this page, the limit is 32,767 user connections.

Having different web application users, with a single web application user to connect to the database is quite normal - most web applications do this.

You are more likely to hit connection pool limits on the client before hitting any limit on the SQL Server side.

Answer 3

This is often called a "service account". There is no limit to the number of users who can connect in this way.

The limit will occur when the number of pooled connections is exhausted, or some other constraint is encountered.

The limit of 32,767 "user connections" is not a limit on the number of users per se. Since users can share connections by using a service account, this is not a limit on the number of users. It is only a limit on the number of connections.