October 3, 2013 at 1:18 am
Okay, My Google-fu is failing me.
Our SA's are replacing some servers and at the same time want to install Standard Edition of SQL Server 2005 in place of those installations which currently have Enterprise Edition. I am pretty sure that the edition of SQL Server installed is determined by the license key used to install SQL Server not necessarily the media used to install SQL Server. Problem is I can't seem to find any documentation to support this assertion.
Any help here would be welcome.
October 3, 2013 at 5:29 am
Do you have one of those generic "all seats" institute licenses? Or do you have a key for each individual copy of the software?
October 3, 2013 at 5:37 am
And does this document help? I found it searching on "SQL 2005 licensing structure" but couldn't get an actual link (nor find it on Microsoft's website even though opening it took me directly to download.microsoft.com).
EDIT: and then there's this link here. Which is also vague, but sounds like you can actually do this.
EDIT 2: This final link seems to indicate you need a separate Standard license key in order to "downgrade".
October 3, 2013 at 5:49 am
We had separate media with our select agreement.
Since they were pre-keyed, I never paid attention to the keys.
I would expect since SharePoint had 1 media, and the key determined the version, this was not the case with SQL Server.
One thing that comes to mind - since the trials are usually Enterprise, you might want to check that avenue and see if something is noted there.
Or if you deal with MS more directly and have some kind of select agreement, bounce it off your rep.
2005? Personally, 2008R2 was so much more stable.
I sure you have already checked and made absolutely sure you are not using any Enterprise specific features.
October 3, 2013 at 5:51 am
Brandie Tarvin (10/3/2013)
And does this document help? I found it searching on "SQL 2005 licensing structure" but couldn't get an actual link (nor find it on Microsoft's website even though opening it took me directly to download.microsoft.com).EDIT: and then there's this link here.
Your first question in your first post, I have no idea. The SA's do all the software installs, including SQL Server. I can find this out though.
The info you provided above, nope, doesn't really answer the question. Perhaps if I put it this way:
If I have SQL Server media for SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition, and while installing SQL Server, if I use a license key for SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition will SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition be installed or will I get an error message of some sort?
I thought I had read some where that what actually controlled the version installed was the license key. I just can't find that information anymore.
October 3, 2013 at 6:01 am
Greg Edwards-268690 (10/3/2013)
We had separate media with our select agreement.Since they were pre-keyed, I never paid attention to the keys.
I would expect since SharePoint had 1 media, and the key determined the version, this was not the case with SQL Server.
One thing that comes to mind - since the trials are usually Enterprise, you might want to check that avenue and see if something is noted there.
Or if you deal with MS more directly and have some kind of select agreement, bounce it off your rep.
2005? Personally, 2008R2 was so much more stable.
I sure you have already checked and made absolutely sure you are not using any Enterprise specific features.
No choice in the version at this time. SQL Server 2005 is the version being run in theater and the version we need to stay with at this time. We wil be upgrading to SQL Server 2008 when we perform a hardware upgrade at some point in the future.
October 3, 2013 at 6:13 am
Lynn Pettis (10/3/2013)
Brandie Tarvin (10/3/2013)
And does this document help? I found it searching on "SQL 2005 licensing structure" but couldn't get an actual link (nor find it on Microsoft's website even though opening it took me directly to download.microsoft.com).EDIT: and then there's this link here.
If I have SQL Server media for SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition, and while installing SQL Server, if I use a license key for SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition will SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition be installed or will I get an error message of some sort?
According to the third link (that I edit-added later), using a Standard edition key on Enterprise edition will cause only Standard features to be installed. but that's not an official MS link. It's the EHow page.
October 3, 2013 at 1:04 pm
I know the media we use are all pre-keyed on the media itself, so I never really paid that much attention to the keys.
I think I remember reading something about this a few years ago regarding SQL, but I can't find it. I remember reading it and thinking to myself that Veritas employed the same strategy for their BackupExec software back in the early 2000s. You could then apply new keys right in the software. As for SQL Server, I don't remember for sure.
October 3, 2013 at 1:23 pm
The edition is tied to the key, however some variations of the installation media have the key embedded and can't be changed. The developer editions I get from MSDN are like that, using that media I can only install developer edition as there's no opportunity to use an alternate key.
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
October 4, 2013 at 12:32 am
Thank you all for your responses. You have confirmed what I believed to be correct and have passed this on to my supervisor who is satisfied with what I have found.
A part of me just wished I could have found something "official" from Microsoft on this.
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