Hardware and Software Requirements for Installing SQL Server 2000

Hardware and Software Requirements ...

Installing SQL Server (SQL Server 2000)

Topic last updated -- January 2004

The minimum hardware and software requirements for running Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 are listed in the following tables.

Hardware Requirements

This table shows hardware requirements for installing Microsoft SQL Server 2000 or SQL Server client management tools and libraries.

Hardware	Minimum requirements
Computer	Intel® or compatible Pentium 166 MHz or higher.
Memory (RAM)¹	Enterprise Edition and Enterprise Evaluation Edition: 64 MB minimum, 128 MB or more recommended Standard Edition and Developer Edition: 64 MB minimum Personal Edition and Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000): 128 MB minimum on Windows XP 64 MB minimum on Windows 2000 32 MB minimum on all other operating systems
Hard disk space²	Enterprise, Enterprise Evaluation, Standard, Developer, and Personal Editions require: 95 to 270 MB of available hard disk space for the database engine; 250 MB for a typical installation. 50 MB of available hard disk space for a minimum installation of Analysis Services; 130 MB for a typical installation. 80 MB of available hard disk space for English Query. Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000): 44 MB minimum
Monitor	VGA or higher resolution 800x600 or higher resolution required for the SQL Server graphical tools
Pointing device	Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
CD-ROM drive	Required

1 Additional memory may be required, depending on operating system requirements.
2 Actual requirements will vary based on your system configuration and the applications and features you choose to install.

Note Microsoft SQL Server 2000 does not have a hardware compatibility list (HCL). If your computer meets the minimum requirements listed in the preceding table, SQL Server 2000 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 the Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility List at Microsoft Web site.

Operating System Requirements

This table shows the operating systems that must be installed to use the various editions or components of Microsoft SQL Server 2000.

SQL Server 2000 edition or component	Operating system requirement
Enterprise Edition and Standard Edition	Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition¹Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition¹Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition¹Windows 2000 Server Windows 2000 Advanced Server Windows 2000 Datacenter Server Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0 with Service Pack 5 (SP5) or later Windows NT Server version 4.0, Enterprise Edition, with SP5 or later
Enterprise Evaluation Edition and Developer Edition	Operating systems listed above for Enterprise and Standard Editions Windows XP Professional Windows XP Home Edition Windows 2000 Professional Windows NT Workstation 4.0 with SP5 or later
SQL Server 2000 Personal Edition² and SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000)	Operating systems listed above for Enterprise, Standard, Enterprise Evaluation, and Developer Editions Windows Server 2003, Web Edition¹ (MSDE only) Windows 98 Windows Me
Client Tools Support	Windows 95³Windows 98 Windows Me Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Windows 2000 Professional Windows XP Professional Windows XP Home Edition Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition¹Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition¹Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition¹UNIX, Apple Macintosh, and OS/2 clients require Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) client software from a third-party vendor.
Connectivity Only	Windows 95 Windows 98 Windows Me Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Windows 2000 (all editions) Windows XP Professional Windows XP Home Edition Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition¹Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition¹Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition¹

1 Windows Server 2003 requires SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 3 or later to be applied.
2 SQL Server 2000 Personal Edition is offered for desktop and mobile use. Personal Edition does not contain the full functionality of Standard Edition. Analysis Services, including online analytical processing (OLAP), data mining, and other data warehousing features, are included in Personal Edition but cannot be installed on Windows 98 or Windows Me.
3 Supported for client connectivity only; does not include graphical tools support.

Note Microsoft Windows NT® Server 4.0, Service Pack 5 (SP5) or later must be installed as a minimum requirement for all SQL Server 2000 editions.

SQL Server 2000 is not supported on Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server.

For installations of SQL Server 2000 Personal Edition or Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000) on Windows 98 computers without a network card, Windows 98 Second Edition is required.

Internet Requirements

This table shows Internet requirements related to using Microsoft SQL Server 2000.

Component	Requirement
Internet software	Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 is required for all installations of Microsoft SQL Server 2000, as it is required for Microsoft Management Console (MMC) and HTML Help. A minimal install is sufficient, and Internet Explorer is not required to be the default browser. Exception to the Internet Explorer 5.0 requirement: If using the Connectivity Only option and not connecting to a server that requires encryption, Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 with Service Pack 2 is sufficient.
Internet Information Services	If writing XML applications, see System Requirements for the IIS Virtual Directory Management for SQL Server Utility.

Component

Requirement

Internet software

Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 is required for all installations of Microsoft SQL Server 2000, as it is required for Microsoft Management Console (MMC) and HTML Help. A minimal install is sufficient, and Internet Explorer is not required to be the default browser.

Exception to the Internet Explorer 5.0 requirement: If using the Connectivity Only option and not connecting to a server that requires encryption, Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 with Service Pack 2 is sufficient.

Internet Information Services

If writing XML applications, see System Requirements for the IIS Virtual Directory Management for SQL Server Utility.

Network Software Requirements

Microsoft Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows Me, and Windows NT have built-in network software. Additional network software is required only if you are using Banyan VINES or AppleTalk ADSP. Novel NetWare IPX/SPX client support is provided by the NWLink protocol of Windows-based networking.

Note TCP/IP must be enabled at the operating system level before installing SQL Server 2000. For more information, see Network Libraries.

Considerations for Other Microsoft Products

The following Microsoft products require Service Release or Service Packs to operate correctly with SQL Server 2000.

Access 2000

Microsoft Access 2000 requires the installation of either Microsoft Office 2000 Service Release 1 (SR1) or Access 2000 SR1 to operate correctly with SQL Server 2000. If running an earlier version of Access 2000, you cannot test automatic data processing (ADP) applications against SQL Server 2000. You cannot access database diagrams, stored procedures, table designs, or view designs.

Other issues to be addressed in a future Access Service Release:

When you run Access 2000 with SR1, you can test ADP applications. You can also alter database diagrams, stored procedures, table designs, or view designs, but you cannot save any changes. A future Access Service Release will allow limited ability to save changes.
The Access 2000 Create Database Wizard cannot successfully create a SQL Server 2000 database. You can work around this by first creating the database using SQL Server Enterprise Manager, and then creating an ADP for the database using the Project (Existing Database) option on the New dialog box in Access 2000.
The Access 2000 Upsizing Wizard does not support upsizing to SQL Server 2000. You can work around this by using Data Transformation Services in the Enterprise Manager to import your MDB database file into SQL Server. You can then rename your MDB tables and create linked tables to the resulting SQL Server database with the same names as your original MDB table names.

Visual Studio 6.0

When you run Microsoft Visual Studio® 6.0, you cannot access database diagrams, stored procedures, table designs, or view designs in SQL Server 2000. Visual Studio 6.0 Service Pack 4 allows you to alter database diagrams, stored procedures, table designs, or view designs, but you cannot save them. A future Visual Studio Service Pack will allow a limited ability to save changes.

The SQL Server 2000 tools cannot access database diagrams saved using the design tools in Visual Studio 6.0 until you have modified the dtproperties table in the database. For more information, see Backward Compatibility.