File vs server repository

Server repository

Dataedo server repository is a predefined SQL Server database. It is a regular database that is created by Dataedo with mostly tables to store metadata.

Choose server repository if

1. Whenever you can
2. Want to work in multi-user environment
3. Have access to SQL Server instance (you may use free SQL Server Express edition)

Server repository is recommended option

File repository

File repository is a SQL Server Compact database that is stored as a file on your disk. It has almost identical schema as server repository.

Differences from server

1. No authentication
2. No support for concurrent work
3. Slow performance using in network environment

Choose file repository if

1. You evaluating Dataedo and can't or don't want to install a server and a repository database
2. Don't have access to SQL Server instance

Notes

It is possible to migrate from file to server with a little effort.