Datasheet

SQL Server 2000 – Particulars and History

Windows CE Edition

The Windows CE Edition will be used on Windows CE devices. It will be extremely limited in its

functionality as, obviously, these devices have an extremely limited capacity. Applications using Windows

CE and SQL Server are still quite limited at present and it's really only possible to have any sort of useful

application built on the more expensive CE products.

Desktop Engine Edition

The Desktop Engine Edition of SQL Server 2000 was known as the Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) in

SQL Server 7.0. Don't get confused by thinking that this is still the same version as the SQL Server 7.0

Desktop version. It isn't. Desktop with SQL Server 7.0 is now Personal with SQL Server 2000. The

Desktop Engine Edition consists only of the main RDBMS. It has none of the administration tools – not

even the Enterprise Manager or Query Analyzer.

Contrary to popular belief, this is not a different version of SQL Server – all editions use the same binary

executable that the Enterprise Edition uses. The difference is more in what auxiliary services are supported.

This edition is small and freely distributable, and Microsoft is pushing it as the new database engine for

Access (replacing Jet). This makes it great for salespeople who need a database to take on the road with them.

Personal Edition

The Personal Edition is a rename of the Desktop Edition found with SQL Server 7.0 (not to be confused

with the Desktop Engine Edition in SQL Server 2000). It was created to serve a couple of purposes: to

provide a more robust desktop database solution than that provided with Access (even on Windows 9x);

and to provide a version of SQL Server that could be used in "unplugged" situations. The latter is the

big advantage – it is proving to be really popular in remote situations, like for sales reps who are on the

road all the time. They can have their own version of the customer database and just "synchronize"

using replication when they are able to connect back up with the network.

The Personal Edition is excellent when you want a small stand-alone database or when you have the

need to be disconnected from a central data source, but want to be able to take some of that data with

you. You could also use the Personal Edition to run a small server on Windows NT/2000 – this latter

configuration even has support for multiple processors. Keep in mind though that, even with

multiprocessing active, there is no support for parallel queries (which run different parts of the same

query at the same time).

I'm told (I haven't tried it myself) that several of the tools that are not supposed to work with the

Personal Edition actually do work just fine – particularly if you're running under NT Workstation. I

strongly discourage you from implementing things this way. If you need the extra features, then use the

right O/S to support them. Otherwise, you may find that everything works OK for a while, but you'll

also find that you have no support from Microsoft when you want to ask why something broke.

Confusingly, the Personal Edition cannot be bought, but if you buy the Standard or Enterprise Editions

you'll get it for free. It is part of the Client Access License (CAL) and client software. Useful if you are

running Windows 2000 Professional or Windows 98 and you need access to the GUI Admin tools

(Standard and Enterprise editions don't run on Win2K Pro or 98, and no edition supports 95).