Length of text data type MS SQL vs MySQL

jweissig

Hi,

I am not a MS SQL guru, but I have plenty of mysql skills.

Maybe someone can help me out here. We have a requirement to store large text/html document in a SQL database. Currently we have a MS SQL database which has all the information stored. But we are running into a problem where the information is getting too large. From what I have read on the internet you are only allowed to store information no greater than 8000 characters (give or take a couple hundred).

Is it possible to create larger text fields say 65535 characters like mysql?

Just to give you a little background we are using this for a intranet QA site to track Release Criteria and Test Cases. We needed something to store the information. When I started working here they are a MS shop and I would like to suggest a MS/PHP solutions.

We have about 1500 release criteria, and the results will always grow. There are about 15 people hitting this database. What is the issues with storing large data objects in a database?

And how can I make this database store more info?

Thanks
- Justin

tomhath

I would store the data in files (as Word, Excel, PDF, or whatever works), not DB rows. Put the name of the file in the database.

Sxooter

We've run into this problem on SQL Server at work. I don't know if the newer versions support >8k row size or not.

Why not look at Postgresql? If you need more RDBMS capabilities like stored procedures, triggers, rules, transactions etc then Postgresql may be a good fit. We're slowly converting all the content management stuff off of mssql server to postgresql because it handles huge text fields with ease. The limit is ~ 1 gig max field size in multi-byte encoded text.

jweissig

hi,

the reason that i wanted to stay with MS SQL was because they are a ms shop and i wanted to make the change as painless as possible.

I just wanted to see if anyone had run into this problem and i guess some have. Thanks... i guess i will invent a work around.

thanks
- justin

Sxooter

Then MySQL on windows or the upcoming 7.4 beta of postgresql that should have a native windows port may be your best bet.

MSSQL server, unfortunately, gets preferntial treatment by programs like access or excel. But with the latest versions (XP) they seem to work pretty well on top of both MySQL and Postgresql. Not as seamlessly as on MSSQL, but still a pretty good fit, and the licensing costs make it a cheap project to float.