Data Management

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 deployment walkthrough

By // July 26, 2006, 4:43 AM PST // billdetwiler

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  • Intro screen

    One of Microsoft's most long-awaited releases, SQL Server 2005 has finally hit the market and brought with it significant new features and changes from previous versions.

    In this gallery, Scott Lowe walks through a sample deployment of SQL Server 2005. The installation procedure has changed quite a bit from previous versions, and this will hopefully help you find the potential pitfalls before you undertake your own deployment.

    When you first put the SQL Server 2005 CD or DVD into your server, you're provided with an introductory window that outlines the product and what you need in order to be able to run it. The SQL Server 2005 introduction screen. Note that, even when you use the single DVD for installation, you still get the "Disc 1 of 2" text at the top of this window. This article is also available as a TechRepublic download and article.

    To get the installation underway, under the Install heading, choose the "Server components, tools, Books Online, and samples" option. The first screen that pops up is the end user license agreement for the product. You need to check the box "I accept the licensing terms and conditions" and click the Next button to continue.

  • Prerequisites

    The next screen outlines the prerequisites that the installer will take care of for you. The .NET Framework 2.0 is key here. If you decide to install SQL Server 2005 with other applications on the same server, make sure that they can use this framework. I have seen cases where the 2.0 version of the .NET Framework created problems with applications that expected an older version. Click the Install button to install these items. When the installation of these items is complete, you can click the Next button.

  • System check

    After the prerequisites install on your system, the SQL Server 2005 installation wizard starts. The first task completed by the wizard is a scan of your system to make sure it meets the minimum requirements for SQL Server 2005.

    Here you see two areas of concern noted by the system check. The first is the minimum hardware requirement. This is showing up because I've assigned only 384MB of RAM to the virtual machine running SQL Server 2005 on my system, which can be easily fixed. The second, IIS Feature Requirement, is a little more serious. A few SQL Server 2005 services, such as Reporting Services, require IIS. So, before I move forward, I'm going to quit the installation of SQL Server 2005 and install IIS on my server. After that, I'll continue with the installation.

  • Registration information

    The next step of the installation is pretty easy. Provide your name, company name and product key. Click Next to continue.

  • Components to install

    This is where things start to get meaty. On this screen, you need to pick which components you want to install along with SQL Server 2005. If this is your first server, you really should pick the SQL Server Database Services option. In the interest of completeness, I'm installing all of the services, but will not go over failover clusters in this article. If you want to choose options on a more granular basis, or change the default installation path (C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server), click the Advanced button, which opens up a more familiar feature selection window. This screenshot shows you the Component Selection screen.

  • Feature selection

    Here you see the Advanced screen. In either window, click Next to continue with the installation.

  • Instance name

    SQL Server 2000 introduced the concept of named instances to SQL Server. You can choose to upgrade an existing named instance, or you can install SQL Server 2005 with a default instance. For this example, I am using the Default option.

  • Service account

    As always, the SQL Server services need to log on to the system using specific credentials. You can choose to have all SQL services share the same credentials or you can provide each service with its own login, which I recommend for larger installations. However, for this sample article, I'm going to allow all services to share a single account, and will use the built-in Local System account.

    This screen also allows you to choose which services will start after installation completes. In this screenshot, you can see the services the installer chooses by default.

  • Authentication mode

    On the next screen of the installation, you're asked if you want to use Windows Authentication of Mixed Mode Authentication, which allows you to use SQL Server accounts. Unless you have some reason not to, just use Windows Authentication Mode. The maintenance of user accounts is easier, and it's one less potential security hole for your company. If you do need to use Mixed Mode, provide the installer with the password you want to use for the system administrator (sa) account.

  • Collation settings

    Collations are groups of different character sets and sort orders that make SQL Server work for different regions and languages. The SQL Server 2005 installer provides you with the option to choose SQL Collations, which provides you with backward compatibility with previous versions of SQL Server. However, if you've opted to install Analysis Services, SQL collations can't be used for this service.

    Microsoft recommends that you use Windows collations rather than SQL collations, unless you have backward compatibility issues to address. Windows collations provide you with consistent string comparisons for both Unicode and non-Unicode text.

    For this example installation, I'm going to use the Latin1_general collation designator and sort order for both SQL and the Analysis services.

  • RS Installation options

    If you chose to install Reporting Services, you have two installation options on the next screen. First, you can install Reporting Services with default options, or you can choose to install without configuring it. I'm going to install Reporting Services with the default options.

  • RS Defaults

    These are the default options for Reporting Services.

  • Error usage settings

    A new option in SQL Server 2005 allows you to share errors and usage information with Microsoft. The disclaimer indicates that personal information may incidentally be sent to Microsoft but won't be used for anything. It's up to you to decide whether or not you believe it.

  • Summary

    The last screen before SQL Server 2005 actually starts installing, the Ready to Install screen, provides you with a short overview of what you're installing. I do wish that some of the options that we selected during the wizard would show here, too, such as collation selection. Click the Install button to commence installation.

  • Setup progress

    The Setup Progress window keeps you apprised of exactly where the installer is with regard to each individual component.

    This was a fairly simple overview of the SQL Server 2005 installation process and is not designed to show every possible installation scenario, but rather to give you a look at the overall process to help you plan your own installation.

Intro screen

One of Microsoft's most long-awaited releases, SQL Server 2005 has finally hit the market and brought with it significant new features and changes from previous versions.

In this gallery, Scott Lowe walks through a sample deployment of SQL Server 2005. The installation procedure has changed quite a bit from previous versions, and this will hopefully help you find the potential pitfalls before you undertake your own deployment.

When you first put the SQL Server 2005 CD or DVD into your server, you're provided with an introductory window that outlines the product and what you need in order to be able to run it. The SQL Server 2005 introduction screen. Note that, even when you use the single DVD for installation, you still get the "Disc 1 of 2" text at the top of this window. This article is also available as a TechRepublic download and article.

To get the installation underway, under the Install heading, choose the "Server components, tools, Books Online, and samples" option. The first screen that pops up is the end user license agreement for the product. You need to check the box "I accept the licensing terms and conditions" and click the Next button to continue.

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About Bill Detwiler

Bill Detwiler is Managing Editor of TechRepublic and Tech Pro Research and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop supp...