Installation Requirements for SQL Server 2005

This topic presents hardware and software requirements for installing SQL Server 2005, and instructions to view Setup documentation.

- Hardware and Software Requirements (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Accessing SQL Server 2005 Books Online Documentation for Setup

# Hardware and Software Requirements (32-bit and 64-bit)

The following sections list the minimum hardware and software requirements for running Microsoft SQL Server 2005.

Note:
Requirements for running SQL Server 2005 on the 32-bit platform are different than requirements for the 64-bit platform.

# Hardware and Software Requirements (32-bit and 64-bit)

### Monitor

SQL Server graphical tools require VGA or higher resolution: at least 1,024x768 pixel resolution.

### Pointing Device

A Microsoft mouse or compatible pointing device is required.

### CD or DVD Drive

A CD or DVD drive, as appropriate, is required for installation from CD or DVD media.

### Cluster Hardware Requirements

On 32-bit and 64-bit platforms, eight-node cluster installations (that is, the maximum number of nodes supported by Microsoft Windows Server 2003) are supported. For more information on high availability solutions, see the topics for "Configuring High Availability" and "Before Installing Failover Clustering" in SQL Server 2005 Books Online.

### Network Software Requirements

Network software requirements for the 64-bit versions of SQL Server 2005 are the same as the requirements for the 32-bit versions. Windows 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 have built-in network software.

Note:
SQL Server 2005 does not support the Banyan VINES Sequenced Packet protocol (SPP), Multiprotocol, AppleTalk, or NWLink IPX/SPX network protocols. Clients previously connecting with these protocols must select a different protocol to connect to SQL Server 2005.

Stand-alone named and default instances support the following network protocols:

- Shared memory
- Named pipes
- TCP/IP
- VIA

Note Shared memory is not supported on failover clusters.

### Internet Requirements

Internet requirements for both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of SQL Server 2005 are the same. The following table lists the Internet requirements for SQL Server 2005.

###

Component | Requirement
--- | ---
Internet software1 | Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 or later is required for all installations of SQL Server 2005, as it is required for Microsoft Management Console (MMC) and HTML Help. A minimal installation of Internet Explorer is sufficient, and Internet Explorer is not required to be the default browser. However, if you are installing client components only and you will not connect to a server that requires encryption, Internet Explorer 4.01 with Service Pack 2 is sufficient.
Internet Information Services (IIS) | IIS 5.0 or higher is required for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (SSRS) installations. For more information on how to install IIS, see the topic for "How to Install Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS)" in SQL Server 2005 Books Online.
ASP.NET 2.02 | ASP.NET 2.0 is required for Reporting Services. When installing Reporting Services, SQL Server Setup will enable ASP.NET if it is not already enabled.

1Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 or later is required for SQL Server Management Studio, Business Intelligence Development Studio, and the Report Designer component of Reporting Services.

2For Reporting Services (64-bit) installations on 64-bit servers, the 64-bit version of ASP.NET must be installed. For Reporting Services (32-bit) installations on the 32-bit subsystem (WOW64) of a 64-bit server, the 32-bit version of ASP.NET must be installed. Reporting Services is not supported in side-by-side configurations on the 64-bit platform and on the 32-bit subsystem (WOW64) of a 64-bit server at the same time. For more information, see the topic for "How to: Configure IIS to Run 32-bit Reporting Services in WOW64 Mode" in SQL Server 2005 Books Online.

### Software Requirements

SQL Server Setup requires Microsoft Windows Installer 3.1 or later and Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.8 SP1 or later. You can download MDAC 2.8 SP1 from this Microsoft Web site.

SQL Server Setup installs the following software components required by the product:

- Microsoft Windows .NET Framework 2.0
- Microsoft SQL Server Native Client
- Microsoft SQL Server Setup support files

Note:
SQL Server 2005 Express Edition does not install .NET Framework 2.0. Before installing SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, you must download and install the .NET Framework 2.0 from this Microsoft Web site.

Each of these components is installed separately; only the Microsoft SQL Server Setup support files are automatically removed when you uninstall SQL Server 2005. For more information on uninstalling this release, see the topic for "How to: Uninstall an Existing Instance of SQL Server 2005 (Setup)" in SQL Server 2005 Books Online.

Note:
The .NET Framework 2.0 Software Development Kit (SDK) is not installed by SQL Server 2005. The SDK contains documentation, a C++ compiler, and other tools that are useful when using the .NET Framework for SQL Server development. You can download the .NET Framework SDK from this Microsoft Web site.

After installing required components, SQL Server Setup will verify that the computer where SQL Server will be installed also meets all of the other requirements for a successful installation. For more information, see the topic for "Check Parameters for the System Configuration Checker" in SQL Server 2005 Books Online.

SQL Server 2005 failover clusters require Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) on at least one node of your server cluster. MSCS is only supported if it is installed on a hardware configuration that has been tested for compatibility with the MSCS software. For more information, see the topic for "Before Installing Failover Clustering" in SQL Server 2005 Books Online.

### Cross-Language Support

For upgrades:

- English-language versions of SQL Server can be upgraded to any localized version of SQL Server 2005.
- Localized versions of SQL Server can be upgraded to localized versions of SQL Server 2005 of the same language.
- Localized version of SQL Server cannot be upgraded to the English-language version of SQL Server 2005.
- Localized versions of SQL Server cannot be upgraded to localized SQL Server 2005 versions of a different localized language.

All localized upgrades must follow supported upgrade paths. For specific information on supported upgrade paths, see "Version and Edition Upgrades" in SQL Server 2005 Books Online.

Additional cross-language support:

- The English-language version of SQL Server 2005 is supported on all localized versions of supported operating systems.
- Localized versions of SQL Server 2005 are supported on localized operating systems that are the same language as the localized SQL Server version.
- Localized versions of SQL Server 2005 are also supported on English-language versions of supported operating systems through the use of Windows Multilingual User Interface Pack (MUI) settings. However, you must verify certain operating system settings before installing a localized version of SQL Server 2005 on a server that is running an English-language operating system with a non-English MUI setting. You must verify that the following operating system settings match the language of the localized SQL Server to be installed:
  - The operating system user interface setting
  - The operating system user locale setting
  - The system locale setting
  If these operating system settings do not match the language of the localized SQL Server, then you must correctly set these operating system settings as described in "How to: Change Operating System Settings to Support Localized Versions" in SQL Server 2005 Books Online.

### Virtual Operating System Support

You can install SQL Server 2005 on Microsoft Virtual Server and on Microsoft Virtual PC on supported operating systems and hardware. For information about Virtual Server, see this Microsoft Web site. For information about Virtual PC, see this Microsoft Web site.

Caution:
Do not install SQL Server 2005 on Microsoft Virtual Server or Microsoft Virtual PC on hardware that is not listed in the Hardware and Software requirements sections below.

# Hardware and Software Requirements (32-bit only)

### Hardware Requirements (32-bit)

This table shows hardware requirements for installing and running SQL Server 2005 on the 32-bit platform.

###

SQL Server 2005 (32-bit) | Processor type1 | Processor speed2 | Memory (RAM)3
--- | --- | --- | ---
SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition 4 SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition | Pentium III compatible processor or higher required | Minimum: 600 MHz Recommended: 1 GHz or higher | Minimum: 512 MB Recommended: 1 GB or more Maximum: OS maximum
SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition | Pentium III compatible processor or higher required | Minimum: 600 MHz Recommended: 1 GHz or higher | Minimum: 512 MB Recommended: 1 GB or more Maximum: 3 GB
SQL Server 2005 Express Edition | Pentium III compatible processor or higher required | Minimum: 600 MHz Recommended: 1 GHz or higher | Minimum: 192 MB Recommended: 512 MB or more Maximum: 1 GB

1System Configuration Checker (SCC) will block Setup if the requirement for processor type is not met.

2SCC will warn the user but will not block Setup if the minimum or recommended processor speed check is not met. No warning will appear on multi-processor machines.

3SCC will warn the user but will not block Setup if the minimum or recommended RAM check is not met. Memory requirements are for this release only, and do not reflect additional memory requirements of the operating system. SCC verifies the memory available when Setup starts.

4SQL Server 2005 Evaluation Edition supports the same feature set as SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition.

Note:
SQL Server 2005 software works on the hardware certified for use with the Microsoft Windows operating system. For more information about hardware certified for use with the Windows operating system, see this Microsoft Web site: Products Designed for Microsoft Windows - Windows Catalog and HCL.

### Hard Disk Space Requirements (32-bit and 64-bit)

During installation of SQL Server 2005, Windows Installer creates temporary files on the system drive. Before you run Setup to install or upgrade to SQL Server 2005, verify that you have 1.6 GB of available disk space on the system drive for these files. This requirement applies even if you install SQL Server components to a non-default drive.

Actual hard disk space requirements for installed components depend on your system configuration and the applications and features you choose to install. The following table provides disk space requirements for SQL Server 2005 components.

###

Feature | Disk space requirement
--- | ---
Database Engine and data files, Replication, and Full-text Search | 150 MB
Analysis Services and data files | 35 MB
Reporting Services and Report Manager | 40 MB
Notification Services engine components, client components, and rules components | 5 MB
Integration Services | 9 MB
Client Components | 12 MB
Management Tools | 70 MB
Development Tools | 20 MB
SQL Server Books Online and SQL Server Mobile Books Online | 15 MB
Samples and sample databases | 390 MB

### Operating System Requirements (32-bit)

This table shows the operating systems that run the server software for each 32-bit version of SQL Server 2005.

###

| Enterprise Edition1 | Developer Edition | Standard Edition | Workgroup Edition | Express Edition | Evaluation Edition
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Windows 2000 | No | No | No | No | No | No
Windows 2000 Professional Edition SP42, 4 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows 2000 Server SP42 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP42 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows 2000 Datacenter Edition SP42 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows XP Embedded | No | No | No | No | No | No
Windows XP Home Edition SP2 | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No
Windows XP Professional Edition SP24 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows XP Media Edition SP2 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows XP Tablet Edition SP2 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows 2003 Server SP1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition SP1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows 2003 Datacenter Edition SP1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows 2003 Web Edition SP1 | No | No | No | No | Yes | No
Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard Edition SP1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition SP1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows 2003 64-Bit Itanium Datacenter Edition SP1 | No | No | No | No | No | No
Windows 2003 64-Bit Itanium Enterprise Edition SP1 | No | No | No | No | No | No
Windows 2003 64-Bit X64 Standard Edition SP1 | WOW643 | WOW643 | WOW643 | WOW643 | WOW643 | WOW643
Windows 2003 64-Bit X64 Datacenter Edition SP1 | WOW643 | WOW643 | WOW643 | WOW643 | WOW643 | WOW643
Windows 2003 64-Bit X64 Enterprise Edition SP1 | WOW643 | WOW643 | WOW643 | WOW643 | WOW643 | WOW643
| Enterprise Edition1 | Developer Edition | Standard Edition | Workgroup Edition | Express Edition | Evaluation Edition
Windows 2000 | No | No | No | No | No | No
Windows 2000 Professional Edition SP42, 4 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows 2000 Server SP42 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP42 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows 2000 Datacenter Edition SP42 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows XP Embedded | No | No | No | No | No | No
Windows XP Home Edition SP2 | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No
Windows XP Professional Edition SP24 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows XP Media Edition SP2 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Windows XP Tablet Edition SP2 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes

1SQL Server 2005 Evaluation Edition supports the same feature set as SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition, but Enterprise Edition is not supported on all of the operating systems that support Evaluation Edition.

2You can download Windows 2000 SP4 from this Microsoft Web site.

3These editions of SQL Server 2005 can be installed to the Windows on Windows (WOW64) 32-bit subsystem of a 64-bit server.

4You can install Microsoft SQL Server Books Online, client tools and some legacy tools for SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition on Windows 2000 Professional SP4, and Windows XP SP2. Client tools include SQL Server Management Studio, and Business Intelligence Development Studio, SQL Server 2005 software development kit. Legacy tools include Data Transformation Services Runtime and SQL-DMO.

The following limitations or issues affect installations on supported operating systems:

- Native Web Service (SOAP/HTTP) support is only available for instances of SQL Server 2005 running on Windows 2003.
- Individual topics in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Integration Services (SSIS) programming, Analysis Management Objects (AMO), and ADOMD.NET documentation may indicate support for earlier versions of Windows, such as Windows 98, Windows ME, or Windows NT 4.0. However, for this release, these three programming interfaces are only supported on Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows 2003.
- SQL Server 2005 failover clusters require Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) on at least one node of your server cluster. MSCS is only supported if it is installed on a hardware configuration that has been tested for compatibility with the MSCS software. For more information, see the topic for "Before Installing Failover Clustering" in SQL Server 2005 Books Online.

### Supported Clients (32-bit)

SQL Server 2005 32-bit client components can be installed on Windows 2000 Professional SP4 or later.

Note:
This release supports Tabular Data Stream (TDS) 4.2 client connectivity through legacy MDAC/DB-Library, not by using new SQL Server 2005 features.

# Hardware and Software Requirements (64-bit only)

### Hardware Requirements (64-bit)

This table shows hardware requirements for installing and running SQL Server 2005 on the 64-bit platform.

###

SQL Server 2005 (64-bit) | Processor type1 | Processor speed2 | Memory (RAM)3
--- | --- | --- | ---
SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition 4 SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition | IA64 minimum: Itanium processor or higher X64 minimum: AMD Opteron, AMD Athlon 64, Intel Xenon with Intel EM64T support, Intel Pentium IV with EM64T support | IA64 minimum: 1 GHz IA64 recommended: 1 GHz or more X64 minimum: 1 GHz X64 recommended: 1 GHz or more | IA64 minimum: 512 MB IA64 recommended: 1 GB or more IA64 maximum: OS Maximum X64 minimum:512 MB X64 recommended: 1 GB or more X64 maximum: OS Maximum

1System Configuration Checker (SCC) will block Setup if the processor type requirement is not met.

2SCC will warn the user but will not block Setup if the minimum or recommended processor speed check is not met.

3SCC will warn the user but will not block Setup if the minimum or recommended RAM check is not met. Memory requirements are for this release only, and do not reflect additional memory requirements of the operating system. SCC verifies the memory available when Setup starts.

4SQL Server 2005 Evaluation Edition supports the same feature set as SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition.

Note:
SQL Server 2005 software works on the hardware certified for use with the Microsoft Windows operating system. For more information about hardware certified for use with the Windows operating system, see this Microsoft Web site: Products Designed for Microsoft Windows - Windows Catalog and HCL. For information on installing a high availability solution, see the topic for "Configuring High Availability" in SQL Server 2005 Books Online.

### Operating System Requirements (64-bit)

This table shows the operating systems that run the server software from each 64-bit version of SQL Server 2005.

###

| Enterprise Edition1(IA64) | Enterprise Edition1(X64) | Developer Edition (IA64)2 | Developer Edition (X64)3 | Standard Edition (IA64) | Standard Edition (X64) | SQL Express | Evaluation Edition (IA64) | Evaluation Edition (X64)
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Windows 2003 64-Bit Itanium Datacenter Edition SP1 | Yes4 | No | Yes4 | No | Yes4 | No | No | Yes4 | No
Windows 2003 64-Bit Itanium Enterprise Edition SP1 | Yes4 | No | Yes4 | No | Yes4 | No | No | Yes4 | No
Windows 2003 64-Bit X64 Standard Edition SP1 | No | Yes4 | No | Yes4 | No | Yes4 | WOW644 | No | Yes4
Windows 2003 64-Bit X64 Datacenter Edition SP1 | No | Yes4 | No | Yes4 | No | Yes4 | WOW644 | No | Yes4
Windows 2003 64-Bit X64 Enterprise Edition SP1 | No | Yes4 | No | Yes4 | No | Yes4 | WOW644 | No | Yes4

1SQL Server 2005 Evaluation Edition supports the same feature set as SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition, but Enterprise Edition is not supported on all of the operating systems that support Evaluation Edition.

2IA64 = Intel Itanium architecture.

3X64 = AMD architecture / Intel Extended Systems architecture.

4Tools native/WOW64. For more information on WOW64, see Extended System Support.

#### Extended System Support

SQL Server 2005 64-bit versions include support for extended systems, also known as Windows on Windows (WOW64). WOW64 is a feature of 64-bit editions of Microsoft Windows that allows 32-bit applications to execute natively in 32-bit mode. Applications function in 32-bit mode even though the underlying operating system is running on the 64-bit platform.

### Supported Clients (64-bit)

SQL Server 2005 64-bit client components can be installed on Windows 2003 (64-bit).

# Accessing SQL Server 2005 Books Online Documentation for Setup

To view SQL Server 2005 Setup documentation, follow these steps:

If you are running Setup from a local DVD drive:

- Navigate to the root of the SQL Server CD or DVD, and launch Setupsql9.chm to view Setup documentation.

If you are running Setup from a network directory on Windows Server 2003 SP1 or later, or any version of Windows XP later than SP2:

1. Navigate to the root of the installation folder on the network and copy Setupsql9.chm to the local computer.
2. Launch Setupsql9.chm to view Setup documentation.