We have an application that came with MSDE 2000 version (yeah, quite a while ago) that is no longer supported, but we have not replaced it with something else. It works for us just fine, and functionality is OK, so we're not looking to replace it. But over the last 10 years, the amount of data in it accumulated to the point that it reached 2GB license limit for MSDE edition. We are required to keep a lot of this data, and since it grows exponentially, I'm not able to free up enough space to last for more than a few weeks to a month. The server is also running MS Windows 2003.
What is the most painless option to lift this license limit? Can I apply "Standard" license to this instance to lift these limitations? Do I need to migrate to a different distribution?
I have concerns with application working under newer distribution. But another concern is upgrade path is not easy: 2008 gives only 2 more G of database space, which is a shorter term fix than I'd like (may be a year or little more). 2014 runs only on server 2008 or higher, so I'd need to upgrade OS, or install it on a separate server (so another license is needed). So keeping it version 2000, and just upgrading the license would be the best bet, but I can't find any information on that. All google comes up with (rightfully so) is how to get rid of 2000, in favor of 2008.
Upgrade from MSDE 2000 to SQL Server 2005 Express and take the next year (or whatever) to find a more suitable long term solution and then plan and complete a migration to said long term solution.