Comparing MySQL and MSSQL for Windows Server Installations

Overview

When building a Windows-based stack to host Sugar® on-site, there are various web server and database applications available to use. Two popular combinations are IIS with MSSQL and Apache with MySQL. This article compares the advantages and disadvantages of both options.

System administrators should review the Supported Platforms page to confirm which stack components are supported for their specific on-site Sugar version.

MySQL vs MSSQL

Sugar is compatible with a range of different web server applications and database types, and deciding which one is best suited for your on-site deployment depends on a number of factors. System administrators who are familiar with IIS with MSSQL, as well as Apache with MySQL should determine which web server and database type is ideal for their Sugar installation.

The following guidelines should be considered when deciding between which stack components to choose:

MSSQL With IIS	MySQL With Apache
Microsoft maintains the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) where they provide documentation and links to downloads for SQL Server including the SQL Server Driver for PHP.	Oracle maintains documentation and links to downloads for MySQL.
Setting up a stack using IIS requires using FastCGI and non-thread-safe binaries. Please visit this link for additional information about IIS on Windows.	Setting up a stack using Apache does not require non-thread-safe binaries. Please visit this link for additional information about Apache on Windows.
Setting up a stack using SQL Server requires using a supported version of the Microsoft SQL Server Driver for PHP specific to your version of Sugar. Please refer to the Supported Platforms page to confirm the supported versions. Please visit this link for additional information about the SQL Server Driver for PHP.	Setting up a stack using MySQL does not require any additional drivers for PHP. Please refer to the MySQL for Windows page for more information.
Depending on the type of Microsoft SQL Server you are planning to implement (e.g. SQL Express), there may be performance limitations to keep in mind. For example, the database application may not be able to take full advantage of the available CPU and RAM.	As of this writing, MySQL on Windows provides an x86 (32-bit) installer. This means that MySQL will not be able to take full advantage of x64 (64-bit) architecture, limiting the amount of CPU and RAM it will be able to use.

The available on-site hardware can also impact performance. Please refer to the SugarCRM Sizing Guidelines article for more information regarding on-site deployment hardware sizing.

Note: There are a number of Simple Stack applications available for Windows such as Apache, MySQL, and a version of PHP. It is not recommended that these applications be used with production instances of Sugar, but they may be used for testing purposes.