Would my environment require a paid SQL Server license?

Question

I've written a plugin for a game that connects to a PHP page and sends it information from the game. The PHP page takes this information, connects to a SQL Server 2005 instance, then inserts the information given into a variety of tables.

I am using Apache (WampServer) to host the PHP page and SQL Server 2005 Express for hosting the database server. This setup is 'okay' as far as development goes, but I wish to release this plugin to other players. Their version of the plugin would be identical to mine in that it would connect to a remote PHP page to either add data to the database or query information from the database.

Since 'clients' are not directly hitting the database, would SQL Server 2005 require a paid license of some type for me to 'legally' use it in this way? What is the standard definition of 'production server?'

Note: I am not making any money from this plugin or PHP page however the game the plugin is written for does require a paid subscription. I am not the developer or in any way affiliated with the game however (other than a paid subscription myself).

Answer 1

Express is free and does not require a license fee If you upgrade to a regular (Standard, Enterprise etc) SQL Server version then typically you get a per CPU license for a web server

Answer 2

SqlExpress is free no matter what the deployment, you just have to accept the limitations

• Single CPU
• 1GB RAM Max Usage
• 4GB Database size limit (not including logs)

Based on your description I think that the SQLExpress would work fine for your application.

Here's a reference from MS http://www.microsoft.com/Sqlserver/2005/en/us/compare-features.aspx

Answer 3

SQL Server typically requires a license in your scenario, which is multiplexing.

If you are redistributing Express, meaning sending it to people that install it on their machines to use your plugin, yuo need to register (http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2005/en/us/express-redistribute.aspx).

If you have Express on some server that people hit from a web page, you are OK, though you might run into performance issues with the 1GB ram limit.