Internet is really growing and to catch up with the demands of web hosting; I could observe that hosting companies are sprouting everywhere. A database is a typical basic requirement for modern dynamic websites that are data driven. I could observe the popularity of open source databases like PostgreSQL, MySQL, and others are usually the choice, but there are still those who would like to use MS SQL Server. This might be due to the development framework like .NET Framework which is tied up with Microsoft system.

Web hosting providers have this problem of high licensing fees with Microsoft products as a killer. Microsoft hopes to address this problem by coming up with a MS SQL Server 2008 Web Edition that will provide a low cost, large scale highly available web applications or hosting solutions. The database is equipped with an improved PHP SQL Server Driver which enables PHP applications have a scalable and reliable integration with SQL Server. SQL Server 2008 Web Edition comes with a Service Provider Licensing Agreement which is a form of volume licensing, so everyone will be enjoying a much lower fees. If you want more capability solution a SQL Server 2008, Enterprise or Standard Edition should be considered for it also includes features found in SQL Server 2008 Web Edition.