in praise of ravendb

Recently I had to re-install my OS. Part of that job required reinstalling SQL server express 2014 and ravendb. How long did each take?

Raven took about 20 seconds

Sql server took a lot longer - like a lot.

Even tho I am a developer by trade there are a few devops-style jobs that are required on a daily basis. The speed of each of these starts to form the basis of your opinion of the product itself.

RavenDb

RavenDb (and all the existing databases) live on a partitioned drive so were not wiped out when the OS reinstalled. To re-install I just had to navigate to the Server folder and type

Raven.Server /install

to install ravendb as a service. now I can browse http://localhost:8080 and all my databases are there, yay!

Sql Server

I had the installation files for both sql express and the management studio downloaded already so I went straight to the installer. Their installer is extremely clunky like it is made to irritate the installer. You cant simply set and forget but have to come back every 10-20 seconds and click next next it is like water boarding. By that i mean you click Next and you have to wait till the next panel of information loads, then likely hit Next again without changing anything.

After doing this twice (once for core install and once for the mgmt studio) i realised i had installed as a named instance and all our connection strings use (local) not \sqlexpress aaaaand there is NO WAY to change to a default instance without re-installing! wtf?

So i go to uninstall what I just did and then re-install and guess what? it tells me a reboot is required. more time wasting.

After its installed you then need to re-import your databases back into the fresh install. (which is still in progress)

Also just to add insult now in Add/Remove Programs instead of seeing an extra entry for 'sql server express 2014' i see a whole bunch of other kludge i never formally installed and would never likely need on its own:

Oh and after all that all you get is a relational database, BOO!