Sql Server Reporting Service without Full SQL Server

Question

I am going to use SSRS to generate report for my website.
Scenario:
I have 2 servers, Application server & Database Server. I want to have reports(.rdl files) sitting on Application server(IIS) accessing data on SQL server(Database Server)

In order to fulfil these requirement I require to install SQL server 2k5 on my Application server just for having SQL server reporting service. So I am just waisting one of licence of SQL server by installing that on Application server.

Is anyone having any idea how to install only reporting service with SQL server 2k5??

Answer 1

You do have an alternative. You can embed reports directly into your code projects in .Net. In this case the report runs through the Microsoft.Reporting.WinForms and Microsoft.Reporting.WebForms namespaces, ReportViewer object. Each report will have a ".rdlc" extension instead of ".rdl", though the two files types are actually equivalent. There is an ASP.Net version of the ReportViewer that allows you to integrate these reports into your website. You just need to drag the ReportViewer control from the toolbox into your website to configure it. For more information, see the MSDN overview of ReportViewer Controls.

Answer 2

If you dont want to use a whole license you can always use reportviewer. Just so I dont put too much answer out here, the big site for this is gotreportviewer.com.

The reportviewer control does the work of the reporting services server when it comes to the generation of reports. RDL files are like xml files and dont do much until they are interpreted. If you embed the reportviewer in your application on the web the work will be done on the user side. It is simialar to microsofts xps format, it has to be interpreted.

If you don't want to create an application for your reports the new version of sql2008 with advanced controls allows you to install a free version of reporting services. It doesnt have all of the goodies but it works for simple deployments.

Answer 3

You could install SQL Server Express on the application server.
It's free, and there's an edition which comes with Reporting Services.
In comparison with the "real" editions, SQL Server Express Edition is limited concerning how much CPU and RAM it can use, but it will probably be fast enough to run your reports.