Business today demands a different kind of data management solution—one that offers excellent performance, scalability, and reliability, but is also easy to use and maintain. SQL Server 2008 delivers on this by providing a Trusted, Productive and Intelligent Data Platform that can solve your data management needs.
SQL Server 2008 is available in many editions to help meet the needs of your organization (click here to go to Microsoft website).
|
Enterprise |
Standard |
Workgroup |
Web |
Developer |
Express |
Compact 3.5 |
|
|
Target Scenarios |
Enterprise workloads that need redundancy and built-in Business Intelligence |
Shared data scenarios in departments and small to large businesses |
Remote offices that need local instances of company data |
For web application hosting |
Full featured edition for development and testing only |
Entry level database, ideal for learning and ISV redistribution |
Embedded database for developing desktop and mobile applications |
|
CPU |
8 CPU |
4 CPU |
2 CPU |
4 CPU |
OS Maximum |
1 CPU |
OS Maximum |
|
Memory |
2 TB Ram |
64 GB Ram |
4 GB |
OS Maximum |
OS Maximum |
1 GB |
OS Maximum |
|
DB Size |
524PB |
524PB |
524PB |
524PB |
524PB |
10 GB |
4 GB |
Feature Comparison by Edition
The below information provides a comparison of key capabilities between SQL Server 2008 Enterprise, Standard, Workgroup, Web and Express editions.
NOTE: The Developer Edition contains the same features as the Enterprise edition and it is inexpensive.
|
Key: |
= Full 
=Partial/Limited
Scalability & Performance
|
Enterprise |
Standard |
Workgroup |
Web |
Express |
|
|
Scalability & Performance |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Number of CPUs |
8 CPU |
4 CPU |
2 CPU |
4 CPU (Web Workloads Only) |
1 CPU |
|
Memory Utilization |
2 TB Ram |
64 GB Ram |
4 GB Ram |
OS Maximum |
1 GB Ram |
|
Database Size |
524PB |
524PB |
524PB |
524PB |
10GB |
|
x32 Hardware Support |
|
|
|
|
|
|
x64 Hardware Support |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Data Compression |
|
||||
|
Resource Governor |
|
||||
|
IA64 hardware support |
|
||||
|
Table and Index Partitioning |
|
||||
|
Parallel Index Operations |
|
||||
|
Parallel Consistency Checks (DBCC) |
|
||||
|
Scalable Shared Databases |
|
||||
|
Indexed views |
|
||||
|
Enhanced Read-ahead and Scan |
|
High Availability (Always On)
|
Enterprise |
Standard |
Workgroup |
Web |
Express |
|
|
High Availability (Always On) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Database Mirroring |
Yes (full) |
Yes (Single Threaded, Safety Full Only) |
Witness only |
Witness only |
Witness only |
|
Online System Changes |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Log Shipping |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clustering |
16-node failover clustering |
2-node failover clustering |
|||
|
Automatic Corruption Recovery from Mirror |
|
|
|||
|
Log Stream Compression |
|
|
|||
|
Online Indexing |
|
||||
|
Mirrored Backups |
|
||||
|
Resource Governor |
|
||||
|
Backup Compression |
|
||||
|
Hot-add Memory and CPU Support |
|
||||
|
Database Snapshots |
|
||||
|
Fast Recovery |
|
||||
|
Online Page and File Restore |
|
Replication
|
Enterprise |
Standard |
Workgroup |
Web |
Express |
|
|
Replication |
|
|
|
|
|
|
SQL Server Change Tracking |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Merge Replication |
|
|
Subscriber only ** |
Subscriber only |
Subscriber only |
|
Transactional Replication |
|
|
Subscriber only ** |
Subscriber only |
Subscriber only |
|
Snapshot Replication |
|
|
Subscriber only ** |
Subscriber only |
Subscriber only |
|
Heterogeneous Subscribers |
|
|
|||
|
Oracle Publishing |
|
Enterprise Security
|
Enterprise |
Standard |
Workgroup |
Web |
Express |
|
|
Enterprise Security |
|
|
|
|
|
|
C2 Complaint Tracing |
|
|
|
|
|
|
SQL Audit |
|
||||
|
Transparent Database Encryption |
|
||||
|
Extensible Key Management |
|
Enterprise Manageability
|
Enterprise |
Standard |
Workgroup |
Web |
Express |
|
|
Enterprise Manageability |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hypervisor Support |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Database Migration Tools |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Policy-Based Management |
|
|
|
|
|
|
SQL Server Management Studio Tools |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Database Mail |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Performance Data Collection |
|
|
|
|
|
|
SQL Server Agent |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Database Tuning Advisor |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Plan Guides |
|
|
|
||
|
SQL Profiler |
|
|
|
||
|
Standard Performance Reports |
|
|
|||
|
Distributed Partition Views |
|
||||
|
Parallel Index Operations |
|
||||
|
Automatic Query-to-index-View Matching |
|
||||
|
Unlimited Virtualization |
|
Data Warehousing
|
Enterprise |
Standard |
Workgroup |
Web |
Express |
|
|
Data Warehousing |
|
|
|||
|
Create Cubes Without a Database |
|
|
|||
|
Auto-generate Staging and Datawarehouse Schema |
|
|
|||
|
Attribute Relationship Designer |
|
|
|||
|
Efficient Aggregation Designers |
|
|
|||
|
Scalable read-only AS |
|
||||
|
Partitioned Cubes |
|
||||
|
Distributed Partitioned Cubes |
|
||||
|
Data Compression |
|
||||
|
Star Join Query Optimizations |
|
||||
|
Change Data Capture (CDC) |
|
Integration Services
|
Enterprise |
Standard |
Workgroup |
Web |
Express |
|
|
Integration Services |
|
|
|
|
|
|
SQL Server Import and Export Wizard |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Log Providers and Logging |
|
|
|||
|
XML Source |
|
|
|||
|
SSIS Run-time |
|
|
|||
|
Basic Data Profiling Tools |
|
|
|||
|
SSIS Package Designer & Service |
|
|
|||
|
Data Mining Query Transformation |
|
||||
|
Data Mining Model Training Destination Adapter |
|
||||
|
Fuzzy Grouping Transformation |
|
||||
|
Fuzzy Lookup Transformation |
|
||||
|
Term Extraction Transformation |
|
||||
|
Dimension Processing Destination Adapter |
|
||||
|
Partition Processing Destination Adapter |
|
Reporting Services
|
Enterprise |
Standard |
Workgroup |
Web |
Express |
|
|
Reporting Services |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reporting Services Memory Limits |
OS Max |
OS Max |
4GB |
4GB |
4GB |
|
Report Designer |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Report Manager |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Role-based Security |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Basic Data Profiling Tools |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Export to Excel, Word, PDF and Images |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Report Server Application Embedding |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Enhanced Gauges and Charting |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Custom Authentication |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ad-hoc Reporting (Report Builder) |
|
|
|
||
|
SharePoint Integration |
|
|
|||
|
Email and File Share Delivery |
|
|
|||
|
Report History, Scheduling, Subscriptions and Caching |
|
|
|||
|
Data Source, Delivery and Rendering Extensibility |
|
|
|||
|
Scale-out Operational Report Configuration |
|
||||
|
Data-driven Report Subscriptions |
|
||||
|
Report Scale-out Deployment |
|
||||
|
Infinite Click-through in Ad-hoc Reports |
|
Analysis Services
|
Enterprise |
Standard |
Workgroup |
Web |
Express |
|
|
Analysis Services |
|
|
|||
|
Analysis Services Backup |
|
|
|||
|
Dimension, Attribute Relationship, Aggregate & Cube Design |
|
|
|||
|
Personalization Extensions |
|
|
|||
|
Analysis Services Scalable Shared Databases |
|
||||
|
Account Intelligence |
|
||||
|
Linked Measures and Dimensions |
|
||||
|
Perspectives |
|
||||
|
Semi-additive Measures |
|
||||
|
Writeback Dimensions |
|
||||
|
Partitioned Cubes and Distributed Partitioned Cubes |
|
||||
|
Custom Rollups |
|
Data Mining
|
Enterprise |
Standard |
Workgroup |
Web |
Express |
||
|
Data Mining |
|
|
||||
|
Excel 2007 and Visio 2007 Add-in Support |
|
|
|
|||
|
Comprehensive Set of DM Algorithms |
|
|
||||
|
Integrated Data Mining Tools (Wizards, Editors, Model Viewers, Query Builder) |
|
|
||||
|
Parallel Model Processing |
|
|||||
|
Cross Validation |
|
|||||
|
Support for Plug-in Algorithms |
|
|||||
|
Advanced Configuration and Tuning Options for Data Mining Algorithms |
|
|||||
|
Support for Pipeline Data Mining and Text Mining with Integration Services |
|
|||||
|
Sequence Prediction |
|
Programmability
|
Enterprise |
Standard |
Workgroup |
Web |
Express |
|
|
Programmability |
|
|
|
|
|
|
MERGE and Upsert Capabilities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
New Date and Time Data Types |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Internationalization Support |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Full Text Search |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Common Language Runtime (CLR) Integration |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Native XML Support |
|
|
|
|
|
|
XML Indexing |
|
|
|
|
|
|
FILESTREAM Support |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Entity Framework Support |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spatial Support |
|
|
|
|
|
Development Tools
|
Enterprise |
Standard |
Workgroup |
Web |
Express |
|
|
Development Tools |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Microsoft Visual Studio Integration |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Intelligence (Transact-SQL-and MDX) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
MDX Edit, Debug and Design Tools |
|
|
Spatial and Location Services
|
Enterprise |
Standard |
Workgroup |
Web |
Express |
|
|
Spatial and Location Services |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spatial Indexes |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Geodetic Data Type |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advanced Spatial Libraries |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Standards-based Spatial Support |
|
|
|
|
|
* Available in SQL Server 2008 Express with Advanced Services Download vs. SQL Server 2008 Express Download.
** If an instance of Workgroup is used as a Publisher, it supports a maximum of 25 publications to all merge subscriptions. It supports an unlimited number of subscriptions to snapshot publications.