Friday, October 24, 2008

SQL Server Express Edition

Found a good article on MSDN - comparing the various downloads of SQL Server Express, entitled 'What's up with SQL Server 2008 Express editions'.

I just completed setting up a VPC with SQL Server 2008 Express as a demo environment for an article I'm drafting. The 2008 version, at least the W/ Advanced Services is a 512 MB download (SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, w Advanced Services was 234 MB) I haven't been able to find a source on this, but it appears that the 2008 version ships with the entire codebase to install any edition of SQL Server. The product key you enter then limits what edition (Express, Standard, Enterprise, etc.) is available to you.

Take note of the prequisites:
  • .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
  • Windows Installer 4.5
  • Windows PowerShell 1.0

The install will not run without the first two, but you'll only find that out after the installation files are extracted (which was a bit sluggish on my VPC), and then both required a reboot. The install will run and then warn of PowerShell missing, which can be enabled without a reboot, then the install of SQL Server can continue.

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