Free Online SQL Server?

[handan2002]

Hi everybody,

I'm making a forum for my school and as it turns out, the school's ISP does not allow for any databasing. The only option for me is to find a free host that will support it, and then set up a redirection page on the school ISP's webpage to the new host.

I was just wondering if any of you knew of any hosts on the internet that will provide some free space and allow for basic databases?

Thanks in advance

Edit: Oh yea, forgot to mention this before- is there any free foruming software that only uses php or cgi scripts? that'll make my life a lot more convenient.

 

[GavinO]

I'm not aware of any free hosts that support databases; its a fairly large service to supply for free. Prohosting and Netfirms both offer Perl/CGI support with their free packages, though (unsure about PHP). As for software, YaBB is free, written in Perl, and uses a flatfile (no need for a database, good for super-budget hosting). phpBB is also free, but requires mySQL and PHP support on the server, which usually means you're paying for space or running the server.

 

[AWS]

Here you go.

http://www.freesql.org/

I knew I had seen this site before and once you posted I found it on an old floppy of favorites I had lying arround.

 

[handan2002]

Great! Thanks to both of you!

 

[handan2002]

Great! Thanks to both of you!

With the YaBB forum software, I was wondering how much space it would take up if there was large amounts of posts? The school ISP only offers 8MB and that's not a lot. If it uses a lot more than that in practice, I'll probably go with Bob's recommended freesql and set up PHPBB2.

 

[AWS]

The data that will be inserted after install will be very little. 8megs isn't a whole lot. You would only be able to handle a few users and a couple thousand posts.

 

[handan2002]

OK, i might have to opt for the SQL option then. Thanks for your advice!

 

[GavinO]

If you're anticipating high volume, you definately want a database-based solution. YaBB's flatfiles are fine for small stuff, but for any large volume you're going to run into serious speed and corruption issues.

 

[handan2002]

Well, unfortunately, I found that freesql.org is no solution.

firstly, it forbids forum databases on there.

even if I ignored that rule, there's also a problem with the database access, as the number of accesses allowed in a 1 hour block is no more than 100 times. Since each user accesses the database around 70 times in less than 10 mins, the forum'll be pretty empty by my estimates.



I might have to revert to YaBB after all...

Also, just wondering, if I have only around 10-15 users online at any one time, is it likely for the file corruption issue to be too bad?