SQL Server 2005 Installation Issues

Whether you are installing SQL Server Express Edition on your personal notebook or SQL Server Enterprise Edition on a 32-processor 50-node cluster environment, a smooth installation of SQL Server requires an installation plan. The scope and number of tasks in your installation plan size depends on the size and complexity of your hardware and application, but at a minimum, you need to plan for three types of installation tasks:

• Tasks to perform before the installation (pre-installation)

• Tasks to perform for the installation (installation)

• Tasks to perform after installation (post-installation)

Although installation planning for the large IT organization is beyond the scope of this book, we briefly state the pre-installation tasks and go through the steps for installation.

Pre-installation Tasks

Prior to the installation of SQL Server on a computer, we suggest you make a checklist of items to ensure a successful installation.

• Verify that the computer specifications meet the minimum hardware and software requirements (especially the Windows service pack) as described in SQL Server Books Online.

• You cannot install SQL Server on a compressed disk or folder. Verify that the disk or folder where you will be installing SQL Server is not compressed.

• The computer may already have an installation of SQL Server. Check the installed components in Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel before you install SQL Server.

• If SQL Server is already installed, investigate the installed components, the purpose of the previous installation, and whether there are enough system resources to handle the previous installations and your installation. You should also back up the existing installation of SQL Server.

• The installation process may require a product key; look up the product key prior to the installation.

• Prepare a domain account to assign to SQL Server services.

• If you are planning to install SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, the installation program will not install .NET Framework 2.0. You must install .NET Framework 2.0 before installing SQL Server 2005 Express Edition. .NET Framework 2.0 can be downloaded from the Microsoft website.

• The SQL Server setup program has a dependency on Windows Installer 3.1 (or later) and Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.8 SP1 or later. You should download both these components from the Microsoft website.

Choosing the Right SQL Server Edition

As we mentioned before, SQL Server is a collection of components, and each component has a number of features to support various aspects of a database application. Microsoft has bundled these components and features into various editions to better accommodate system capacity, performance, and the price requirements of its customers. Prior to acquiring and installing SQL Server, you should study all editions of SQL Server to find the best match for your application and business needs.

As stated in Table 2.1, SQL Server has several different editions, each packaged with different components and functionality. One of your main decisions before any installation of SQL Server should be selecting the edition that suits your personal or business needs. In a large organization, the selection process should include both the database and business stakeholders such as database administrators, database developers, and business unit owners. Everyone should carefully review the functionality of each of edition of SQL Server 2005 to determine which functionality matches the business's current and future needs. This review process should also include an audit of the existing functionality, determination of immediate future functionality, and consultation with business units on functionality needed to support their goals in the next 23 years. After compiling a listing of required functionality, the database administrator should match the required functionality with the SQL Server functionality provided in each edition.

Table 2-1. SQL Server 2005 Editions

SQL Server 2005 Edition	Main Components	32-bit & 64-bit Support	Description
SQL Server Express Edition	SQL Server Databases Engine[1] Reporting Services[1]	32-bit[2]	SQL Server Express Edition is a free, easy-to-use and lightweight version of SQL Server 2005. SQL Server Express has limited performance and capacity and it is targeted for low-end users, hobbyists, developers, and students.
SQL Server Workgroup Edition	SQL Server Databases Engine[1] Reporting Services[1]	32-bit[2]	SQL Server Workgroup provides data storage and reporting features that are targeted for small businesses or Web servers.
SQL Server Developer Edition	SQL Server DatabasesEngine Analysis Services Reporting Services Integration Services Notification Services	32-bit and 64-bit	SQL Server Developer Edition has the same components and feature set as the Enterprise Edition, but is licensed to only one developer for development, test, and demonstration use.
SQL Server Standard Edition	SQL Server DatabasesEngine[1] Analysis Services[1] Reporting Services[1] Integration Services[1] Notification Services	32-bit and 64-bit	SQL Server Standard Edition is the data management and analysis platform for small and medium-sized organizations. It includes the essential functionality needed for OLTP, data warehousing, and line-of-business solutions. Standard Edition's integrated business intelligence and high-availability features provide organizations with the essential capabilities needed to support their operations.
SQL Server Enterprise Edition	SQL Server DatabasesEngine Analysis Services Reporting Services Notification Services	32-bit and 64-bit	SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition is the high-end edition of SQL Server 2005 and it is targeted for the mission-critical enterprise systems that demand a high-performance, high-capacity, and high-availability data management system. The Enterprise Edition also includes comprehensive business intelligence, reporting, and robust analytic capabilities.
SQL Server Enterprise Evaluation Edition	SQL Server DatabasesEngine Analysis Services Reporting Services Integration Services Notification Services	32-bit and 64-bit	SQL Server Evaluation Edition is a 180-day trial version of SQL Server that has the same functionality as the Enterprise Edition. The Evaluation Edition is targeted for customers who want to explore and examine the features and functionality of SQL Server 2005 before they choose one of the other editions.

^[1] Available with limited functionality or capacity.

^[2] 64-bit is supported in Windows on Windows (WoW) mode only on the x64 platform, not the Itanium IA64 platform.

Understanding SQL Server Instances

Prior to the installation of SQL Server, it is important that you understand the significance of SQL Server instances because the installation is instance-based. A computer can run multiple instances of SQL Server simultaneously, and each instance runs independently of other instances. A server can have only one default instance of SQL Server, but multiple named instances up to the resources available on the computer. SQL Server 2005 supports multiple instances on a single server. However, not all SQL Server components are instance-aware. Table 2-2 describes components that are instance aware.

Table 2-2. SQL Server Instance-Aware Components

SQL Server Component	Instance-aware?
SQL Server Database Services (includes SQL Server Agent, Full-Text Search, and Replication)	Yes
SQL Server Analysis Services	Yes
SQL Server Reporting Services	Yes
SQL Server Integration Services	No
Notification Services	Yesinstances are created after installation; not during setup.
Workstation components and tools	No

The maximum number of instances supported in SQL Server 2005 is based on the editions and cluster configuration of your system, as described in Table 2-3.

Table 2-3. Maximum Number of Instances by Edition in a Clustered and Nonclustered Configuration

SQL Server Editions	Maximum Instances Allowed
Enterprise, Developer, and Evaluation Editions	50
Enterprise, Developer, Evaluation Editions in a clustered configuration	25
Standard, Workgroup, and Express Editions	16
Standard, Workgroup, and Express Editions in a clustered configuration	16

Each instance of SQL Server is made up of a distinct set of services with separate settings for collations and other options. The directory structure, Registry structure, and service names all reflect the specific instance name that you specify during the installation of an instance. A SQL Server instance can be either the default instance or a named instance. Although you can technically configure up to 50 instances of SQL Server on a computer, in reality the maximum number of instances you can deploy depends upon the hardware resources available.

A named instance can be installed either as the first or only instance, or in a subsequent installation of SQL Server. The first time you install SQL Server on a computer with no existing installations of SQL Server, the installation program assumes installation of the default instance, although you can choose to install SQL Server as a named instance without installing the default instance first.

SQL Server Installation Tool

SQL Server 2005 has a new installation tool called SQL Server 2005 Setup. The Setup tool can be launched in two ways: through a wizard and in the command line. The Setup Wizard provides a graphical user interface, which guides the user through the installation process. The Setup command line tool is executed from a Windows command prompt and it has several advanced installation options such as remote installation. The Setup command line is more suitable for large enterprise installations. Both the Setup wizard and the command tool provide an integrated solution for installing and upgrading all components of SQL Server.

SQL Server Setup Wizard

The Setup Wizard is an integrated graphical tool for installation and upgrade of all SQL Server 2005 components, namely,

• Database Engine

• Analysis Services

• Reporting Services

• Notification Services

• Integration Services

• Replication

• Management Tools

• Connectivity Components

• Sample databases, samples, and SQL Server 2005 documentation