Database Schema Designing

Case 1:
A company is involved into e-commerce..hosting multiple websites for different products.

CAse 2:
The above scenario could also be implemented with a single site having multiple products for sale.

For Case 2 one would go for a single database for all the products.
While for CAse 1 ,a separate Database is developed for each Site.

What I fill is CAse2 is a more appropriate choice even if we have multiple sites for different products.

This would help us in rapid development of any ecommerce site...
ANd better ERP management for the Company.

I would appreciate some expert guidelines for the above scenario

Thanx in Advance
Warm Regards
GirijaUnless there is something to do with IIS (or whatever web server you are using) that would benefit from different databases, I would have all the data in one database, and have more than web site access the database.

Having all of your data in one database would allow provide much better information (not just straight forward data entry, but the trends you can find through relations, etc.) and make it easier to manage...in my oppinion. However, make sure that if you use one database (and these are high volume web sites) that you are writing your code carefully to avoid unneccessary record locks.

Just my oppinion...