Database size limit in Sybase Express edition

Question

I'm currently testing out the Sybase 16.0 Developer edition on RHEL. Turns out the limitation on the max. concurrent connections is a real problem for me, so I'd like to switch to the Express edition.

My main concerns are the following:

• The documentation mentions a limitation of 5 GB as max. DB size. Does this mean I can have a 20 GB device with 4 x 5 GB databases inside or that an entire server in Express edition won't go past 5 GB total?

• Will it be easy to migrate devices created in Developer edition into Express edition?

Answer 1

It seems that the 5GB limit is per server, so you would not be able to have multiple 5GB databases.

As for migration, it should be just a matter of shutting down the Express Edition, and using the Developer Edition binaries to start your existing data server.

It may be as easy as copying then RUN_[servername] file from the old ./install directory to the new one, if all of your system and user databases exist outside of the installation directory.

The link above is worth checking out, as it details the restrictions of the different versions. It's also a great resource for ASE knowledge, as Rob Verschoor is one of the most knowledgable Sybase/SAP database guys around.

Answer 2

For anyone coming across this Q&A ... the maximums for the ASE Express Edition were bumped up in early 2017.

Of interest:

• max memory: unlimited
• max db size: 50GB (this is actually the max size of all db devices combined)
• max number of engines: 4

See ASE version comparison matrix for more details.