Works with Existing Data APIs

SQL CE works with existing .NET-based data APIs, and supports a SQL Server compatible query syntax.  This means you can use existing data APIs like ADO.NET, as well as use higher-level ORMs like Entity Framework and NHibernate with SQL CE. 

No Database Installation Required

SQL CE does not require you to run a setup or install a database server in order to use it.  You can now simply copy the SQL CE binaries into the \bin directory of your ASP.NET application hosting site, and then your web application can run and use it as a database engine.  No setup or extra security permissions are required for it to run. 

Applications you build can redistribute SQL CE as part of them.  Just copy your web application onto any hosting server and it will work.

Database Files are Stored on Disk

SQL CE stores databases as files on disk (within files with a .sdf file extension). You can store SQL CE database files within the \App_Data folder of your ASP.NET Web application at Re-invent Hosting - they do not need to be registered in order to use them within your application. 

The SQL CE database engine then runs in-memory within your application.  When your application pool shuts down the database is automatically unloaded.

Shared Web Hosting Scenarios Are Now Supported with SQL CE 4

SQL CE 4 can now run in “medium trust” ASP.NET 4 web hosting scenarios – without a hoster having to install anything. Hosters do not need to install SQL CE or do anything to their servers to enable it.  Re-invent runs in "Full Trust Hosting"  so you have nothing to worry about.

This means you can build an ASP.NET Web application that contains your code, content, and now also a SQL CE database engine and database files – all contained underneath your application directory.  You can now deploy an application like this simply by using FTP to copy it up to any of Re-invent's inexpensive shared web hosting accounts – no extra database deployment step or hoster installation required.

SQL CE will then run within your application at the remote host. 

Visual Studio 2010 and Visual Web Developer 2010 Express Support

VS 2010 and Visual Web Developer 2010 Express will add SQL CE 4 tooling support for ASP.NET scenarios in an update Microsoft will be rolling out in the future.  This will enable you to add SQL CE database files to your ASP.NET projects, use the Visual Studio Server Explorer to create and edit tables in them, and use higher-level designers like Entity Framework to model and map the database to classes that you can then query and program against using LINQ.

Supports Both Development and Production

SQL CE can be used for both development scenarios and light-usage production usage scenarios.  With the SQL CE 4 release Microsoft has done the engineering work to ensure that SQL CE won’t crash or deadlock when used in a multi-threaded server scenario (like ASP.NET).  This is a big change from previous releases of SQL CE – which were designed for client-only scenarios and which explicitly blocked running in web-server environments.  Starting with SQL CE 4 you can use it in a web-server as well. 

There are no license restrictions with SQL CE.

Easy Migration to SQL Server 

SQL CE is an embedded database – which makes it ideal for development and light-usage scenarios.  For high-volume sites and applications you’ll probably want to migrate it to use SQL Server 2008 (which is FREE at Re-invent Hosting!).  These servers enable much better scalability, more development features (including features like Stored Procedures – which aren’t supported with SQL CE), as well as more advanced data management capabilities.