However, a standard installation is heavy. It installs Windows services, modifies the registry, and requires administrative privileges to install. It is "bound" to the machine.
If you’ve ever searched for a way to run Microsoft’s flagship relational database without admin rights, from a USB stick, or as part of a self-contained application, you’ve likely stumbled upon the term ms sql server express portable
Before we dive into solutions, let’s define the term. A truly portable database server should have these characteristics: However, a standard installation is heavy
It launches an instance only when an application connects to it. Portability: modifies the registry