Introduction

SQL Server 2005 comes in many different editions and often customers are at a loss as to which edition is the right one for them - they don't want to pay for features they don't need but they also want to make sure that what they are buying will actually have all the features and functionality they need now and that they may need in the foreseeable future.

As a developer you don't need to spend to much time figuring out which edition to use for yourself - the SQL Server developer edition provides all the features of SQL Server Enterprise Edition with the only difference being that you can only use it for development and demo purposes. However, you must be aware of the differences between editions as your customers needs and budget will influence the architecture of the system you design - for example: while you may love to experiment with parallel indexing operations you should know that it is only available in the SQL Server Enterprise Edition which may be out of range for your customer.

SQL Server Editions

• SQL Server Express Edition: it is free and it provides all features and functionality that many small businesses need. What are some the limitations of SQL Server Express:
  • can only use 1 CPU;
  • can only utilize 1 GB of RAM
  • database can not be greated than 4 GB
  • not much in terms of high availability features - no mirroring, no clustering, no backup log-shipping etc.;
  • no notification services;
  • can only be a replication subscriber not a publisher;
  • no business intelligence features;
• SQL Server Workgroup Edition: a small organization that is looking for performance that is better than that of SQL Server Express and no database size limitations should look at SQL Server Workgroup Edition. Here are some of the features that make SQL Server Workgroup edition better than SQL Server Express:
  • can use 2 CPU;
  • can utilize up to 3 GB of RAM;
  • no limit on the database size;
  • can publish to up to 25 merge replication subscribers and up to 5 transaction replication subscribers;
  • includes SQL Server Management Studio;
  • provides import-export features, report builder, enterprise management tools etc.
• SQL Server Standard Edition: this edition provides sevaral additional features compared to the workgroup edition and is considered a good choice for small and medium size businesses.
  • can use up to 4 CPU;
  • can utilize all available RAM;
  • provides 64-bit support;
  • adds limited high availability features like mirroring and clustering;
  • notification services;
  • basic integration and transformation services;
  • full replication capability;
  • datawarehousing, analysis services, business analytics, data mining etc.
• SQL Server Enterprise Edition: this is the highest edition of SQL Server available that provides a comprehensive data platform that meets the high demands of enterprise online transaction processing and data warehousing applications. Here are some of the additional features includes in SQL Server Enterprise:
  • no limit on number of processors it can utilize;
  • partitioning, parallel indexing operations and indexed views;
  • online indexing, online restore and fast recovery;
  • advanced integration and transformation services;
  • transactional replication with an oracle database as a publisher;
  • advanced business intelligence fearures like proactive cashing, full write-back support, text mining etc.
• SQL Server Developer Edition: same features as the enterprise edition but can only be used for development and demoing.
• SQL Server Compact Edition: free, embedded database engine that lets developers build robust Windows Desktop and mobile applications that run on all Windows platforms including Windows XP, Vista, Pocket PC, and Smartphone. SQL Server Compact Edition’s small embedded footprint is under 1MB in size, making it easy to create and deploy database applications over the Internet without jeopardizing great performance or a rich feature set.

Click here to go back to the SQL Server content index page.