title: Implications of nvarchar (50) vs nvarchar (max)
body: <p>What are the general storage and performance differences between the below two tables if their only difference is <code>nvarchar(50)</code> vs. <code>nvarchar(max)</code> and the strings in each field range from 1 to 50 characters? This is in SQL Server 2005.</p>
  
  <p><strong>TABLE 1</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>firstname nvarchar (50)
  lastname nvarchar (50)
  username nvarchar (50)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><strong>TABLE 2</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>firstname nvarchar (max)
  lastname nvarchar (max)
  username nvarchar (max)
  </code></pre>