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SQL Server 2016 Basic installation, Developer edition

If you are a student, a developer or a non-dba wanting to get started with learning more about SQL Server and you need an install to play with, you have a couple of free choices:

  • SQL Server Express – free, but has some size and performance restrictions. Also, no SQL Agent, so no job scheduling.
  • SQL Server Developer – also free, full code of the Enterprise Edition, but cannot be used legally in production. Because its a dev edition.

If you’ve never installed SQL server before and are not sure what to do, this video is for you. It is targeted to new SQL users, installing on their laptops/workstations. I take all the defaults and describe why. I install just the database engine (and the SQL Agent that comes along with that)…no Reporting services, no Analysis Services, etc.

This video was done with SQL 2016 RTM Dev edition. More current version(s) are now available. You can download the full bits (my recommendation), or a stub file that will guide you through an install.   

Download from this link. You will need a Dev Essentials account:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-editions-developers

This is just so you can see it before you do it. Enjoy!

Watch the video here