File vs server repository

Server repository

Dataedo server repository is a predefined SQL Server database. It is a regular database created by Dataedo to store metadata, consiting mostly of tables.

Choose server repository

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

Server repository is the recommended option

Learn more:

1. Creating SQL Server repository
2. Creating Azure SQL repository

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're evaluating Dataedo and can't or don't want create a repository database
2. You don't have access to an SQL Server instance

Notes

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