I'm coding a server/client program so that multiple clients can connect to the server and access the information that I want to store. I have the server/client relationship setup with a WCF service hosted inside a windows service for a server and a forms client that connects to it and calls the functions the service offers.

My problem is, I need to deploy a database with the server side install and I'm unsure on how to do that. From just browsing the options in Visual Studio I can add an MDF database to the project and build the app that way and have the installer install SQL express, but I don't know if that is the right way. Just seems to me that an MDF sitting in the install directory for the program doesn't look correct, I've never seen anything else done like that. Also, when I have a database correctly added to the project and deployed, how do I update that database? The GUI and libraries are a simple overwrite, but when the server has real data in it, it can't just start over every time an update goes out.

Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.