Is it better for a collection of ASP.NET web apps to share the same session database, or should each one have its own?
If there is no significant difference, having a single database would be preferable due to easier maintenance.
Background
My team has an assortment of ASP.NET web apps, all written in either Monorail 1.1 or ASP.NET MVC 1.0. Each app currently uses a dedicated session state database. I’m working on adding a new site to that list, and am debating whether I should create another new session database, or just share an existing one with another app.
I would vote for separation here.
I don’t think you’ll necessarily find that it’s “easier maintenance” in the long run to stuff everything into one database. If every app is using the same table and database instance, you can’t separate one application from the pool without duplicating the entire database. What if one app goes viral and needs to be moved to it’s own server cluster?
For the amount of work it takes to copy a database to a new instance, you’ll be separating the concerns of the applications, making it easier to debug them individually, more scalable and much more portable.