Are you looking to download and install SQL Server 2016 Express Edition? In this article, we will guide you through the process step by step.
Why Use SQL Server 2016 Express Edition?
SQL Server 2016 Express Edition is a free version of SQL Server that offers limited features. It is ideal for scenarios such as:
- Designing and testing database schemas
- Storing a small amount of data
- Using as a backend for embedded software
- Student projects
- Enabling automatic failover in database mirroring setups
Features and Limitations
Before downloading and installing SQL Server 2016 Express Edition, it’s important to be aware of its features and limitations. Here are some key points:
- Maximum compute capacity: One socket or four cores
- Maximum memory for buffer pool per instance: 1024 MB
- Maximum allowed database size: 10GB
- Database mirroring support: Yes, as a witness server
- Column store index support: Yes
- In-memory OLTP: Yes
- Table and index partitioning: Yes
- Data compression: Yes
- Partition parallelism: Yes
- SQL Server profiler: No
- SQL Server Agent: No
- Standard performance dashboard: No
- Peer to peer transaction replication: No
- Backup encryption: No
- R integration: No
- Python integration: No
- Machine learning server: No
Downloading SQL Server 2016 Express Edition
To download SQL Server 2016 Express Edition, follow these steps:
- Go to the official Microsoft download center page.
- Select your preferred installation language and click on “Download”.
- The download process will begin. Once it completes, double-click the installation file to start the installation.
Installing SQL Server 2016 Express Edition
Now, let’s walk through the installation process:
- Double-click on the SQLServer2016-SSEI-Expr file to begin the installation.
- On the first screen, you have three installation types to choose from: Basic, Custom, and Download media. For this guide, we will select the Custom installation type.
- Specify the media location where the installation files will be downloaded. The download size is approximately 445MB.
- The SQL Server Installation Center will start. Select “New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation”.
- Accept the license terms and proceed.
- Check the installation rules to ensure there are no errors.
- Select the features you want to install. We recommend selecting all the instance features.
- Provide the instance details, such as the instance name. You can choose to create a default instance or a named instance.
- Configure the server settings, including authentication mode, SQL Server service accounts, and database collation.
- Configure the database engine settings, such as TempDB configuration and FILESTREAM feature.
- Optionally, install and configure SQL Server Reporting Services.
- Proceed with the installation.
Testing the Connectivity
Once the installation is complete, you can test the connectivity by executing some queries. Here’s how:
- Open SQL Server Management Studio.
- In the “Connect to Server” screen, select “Database Engine” as the server type.
- Enter the server name and select the appropriate authentication method.
- Click “Connect”.
- Run a query to view the version of the SQL Server.
That’s it! You have successfully downloaded and installed SQL Server 2016 Express Edition.
Summary
In this article, we have covered the download and installation process of SQL Server 2016 Express Edition. Whether you are a student working on a project or need a free database solution for your small-scale application, SQL Server 2016 Express Edition is a great choice. Follow the steps outlined in this guide to get started with SQL Server 2016 Express Edition.