CHAPTER 2 ■ PRE-INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS
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Standard Edition
Standard Edition is another licensed production system without all the features of the Enterprise
Edition, but it is built to provide ease of use and manageability. Standard Edition is run in environments
where you have determined that the features provided only in the Enterprise Edition are not needed to
accomplish the current and future requirements of all applications running on the server. Let’s be
honest: Asking for or receiving detailed requirements from management, customers, or clients probably
will not happen all the time. (You will be lucky if you can make them out through the beer stains on the
napkin.) Therefore, when it comes down to determining the version that meets the bare-bones
requirements you receive, you may have to go back to the requirements provider to ensure all the
documentation is accurate and complete. Try asking the requirements provider a series of questions in
different ways to help you determine what the real requirements are for the application. That way you
will feel comfortable supporting the application on the edition of SQL Server chosen. Standard Edition is
significantly cheaper than Enterprise Edition so be wary of management wanting to install Standard
Edition even though the application needs Enterprise Edition features.
Stand your ground and make the application owner or management sign off on the functionality
that you will not be able to provide if they insist on purchasing the cheaper edition. That way, when the
blame game starts and people start pointing fingers, you can pull out your documentation and utilize
your get-out-of-jail-free card.
In the Standard Edition, Microsoft has included many of the features required to manage a
production environment in small to midsized organizations, and maybe even larger organizations,
depending on the requirements of the application. Review Table 2-1 to identify the features of the
Standard Editions.
Overall, the Standard Edition is not a bad choice when you do not have to utilize the greater number
of features available in the Enterprise Edition. Remember, a “nice-to-have” is completely different than a
feature that is absolutely necessary. The cost difference does not justify the purchase of the Enterprise
Edition if the features are just nice-to-haves.
Developer Edition
The Developer Edition contains all of the features of the Enterprise Edition, but it is licensed for
nonproduction systems. This edition is ideal for developers or administrators looking to install and test
out SQL Server 2012.
Developer Edition offers a great introductory platform for validating your application’s functionality
with the new version of SQL Server 2012, along with providing a playground for trying out features. While
doing this, make a detailed evaluation of the features that your production environment requires. If the
organization is planning to purchase the Standard Edition, then experiment with the features of
Enterprise Edition by using the Developer Edition. That will help you determine if the production
environment needs the features that the Standard Edition does not support. Likewise, if the organization
is purchasing Enterprise Edition, then use the Developer Edition to evaluate what supporting your
production environment would be like without all the features available in the Enterprise Edition.
For example, Enterprise Edition is required to take advantage of ColumnStore indexes, a new type of
index added by Microsoft. However, ColumnStore indexes are most useful in Decision Support Systems
or Data Warehousing systems. If you have an OLTP system, then this feature may not be useful. By
experimenting with the Developer Edition, not only do you get to use the ColumnStore Index feature,
but you can also familiarize yourself with the commands and syntax of all the features of SQL Server
2012. You can also utilize the Developer Edition to generate documentation of the new features to
determine their usefulness. Documenting the results of your test prepares support for your
recommendation of the next edition of SQL Server to purchase.
