Do any ISP's really host SQL 2005 Express
Hi, I've been a SQL Server dba for about 10 years, so i know SQL quite well. I've recently started using VWD express, and as it says, its quick and easy to create a website, which I've done. It all works great on my local machine. I've just signed up with an isp and duly ftp'd the project files plus the mdf and ldf that lives in App_Data into their content area, and rather naively I expected it all to work. The pages come up fine until some database access is called for, then i get the seemingly infamous error:
... (provider: SQL Network Interfaces, error: 26 - Error Locating Server/Instance Specified) ...
I've researched this for 2 solid days now, examined forums and posts, followed advice and enabled protocols and so on. Support at the isp in question does not really have a clue about databases and connections strings. Then I started looking closely at the words used by the isp's, none of the isp's explicitly say they support sql 2005 express. They do say SQL 2005, but not express. They do say VWD Express, but not SQL 2005 Express. So does anyone know what is/is not possible with regard to deployment of SQL 2005 express. Does anyone have experience of running SQL express on a production server, or a shared hosters machine? Its been out now for nearly a year I think, so hopefully someone has the answer.
Thanks if you can help! Charlie
