SQL Server Trivia

Think you know SQL Server past and present? Here are the next-to-impossible questions I asked at the SQLSaturday #51 Stump The Experts session in Nashville. There were a few people who apparently have far more active brain cells than me who managed to answer a couple of these questions. But for the most part, these questions, did indeed, stump the experts.

Let’s see how you do.

The Trivia Questions

Question 1:

True or False. The following T-SQL statement is valid.

CREATE TABLE # (Column1 INT);

Question 2:

What’s the maximum number of nonclustered indexes per table for a 64-bit instance of SQL Server 2008 R2?

Question 3:

There was a little known and cancelled upgrade to Windows 95 that eventually became known as Windows Desktop Update, Internet Explorer 4.0. What was its codename?

Question 4:

For what processors was SQL Server 4.21a SP4 available?

Question 5:

When did Mainstream Support end for SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition?

Question 6:

What is the maximum number of columns you can have in a single SELECT statement in a 64-bit instance of SQL Server 2008 R2?

Question 7:

What was the final name of the SQL Server feature that originally was known by the code name Rosetta?

Question 8:

What command displays information about the installed versions and registered instances of Notification Services?

Question 9:

How many task in SSIS for SQL Server 2008 R2 are designed for SSAS?

Question 10:

On what operating systems did SQL Server 4.20 run?

Question 11:

How many copies of a query plan can be in memory at one time in SQL Server 2008 R2?

Question 12:

In how many different North American cities has the PASS Community Summit been held?

Question 13:

Name one aspect of SQL Server that separate it from any other Microsoft product.

Question 14:

For which operating system was SQL Server originally developed?

Question 15:

In SQL Server 2008 R2, how many DMVs are related to Indexes?

Question 16:

How much was an unlimited user license for SQL Server 1.1?

Question 17:

When was SQL Server 1.1 released?

Question 18:

When SQL Server 1.1 was first released, it was considered to be well behind in sales compared to Oracle Server for OS/2. How many licenses had Oracle sold already?

Question 19:

True or False. SQL CE can be managed from SQL Server Management Studio 2005.

Question 20:

When AUTO_UPDATE_STATISTICS is ON, updated statistics or cardinality changes to which of the follow tables cause a recompile?

a) User Tables

b) Temporary Tables

c) Inserted Tables

d) Deleted Tables