Remember the first time you bought a bicycle? You probably just got a box full of bicycle parts from the store with a label on the front that read "some assembly required." If you're like most people, you probably set the instruction booklet somewhere on the floor and just started picking out parts that looked like they should fit together. In the end, you probably had something that didn't even remotely resemble the bicycle you saw on the showroom floor and an overpowering desire to read the assembly instructions.

SQL Server 2005 should have a label right on the box that says "some assembly required" just to remind you to read the instructions first, not last. Just like with the first bicycle you bought, with SQL Server if you read the instructions after the install, you will end up with a mess. This mess is not easy to clean up, though; in some instances, you may even need to reinstall SQL Server.

In this chapter, we will present the instructions for installing SQL Server 2005 so that you need do it only once. We'll start by covering the prerequisites, explaining the required hardware and software that need to be in place before you begin the install procedure. Then we'll move into installing SQL Server, covering each step of the Setup Wizard and pointing out topics that require special attention. Since you might be upgrading from a previous version of SQL Server, we'll also walk you through the upgrade process. Finally, since not all installs go perfectly, we'll provide some troubleshooting techniques to ensure that SQL Server gets up and running.

Meeting the Prerequisites

You will need a few pieces in place on your machine before you will be able to install SQL Server 2005, the first of which is Internet Explorer (IE) 6.0 Service Pack 1 (SP1) or newer. Many people see this requirement and instantly think SQL Server requires IE to serve data. That is not the case. The only parts of SQL Server 2005 that require IE are the Microsoft Management Console (discussed later in this book) and Books Online (BOL).

You must also be certain your machine meets the minimum hardware requirements before you can install SQL Server 2005. Otherwise, SQL Server may run very slowly, or not at all. Each edition of SQL Server has a different set of hardware requirements. Table 1.1 lists the hardware requirements for the Express Edition, Table 1.2 lists the Workgroup Edition requirements, and Table 1.3 lists the Standard Edition, Developer Edition, and Enterprise Edition requirements.

At this point you are probably wondering why there are so many versions of SQL Server 2005 and which one is right for you. The following discussion compares the versions and shows you what each edition does:

Express Edition Express Edition supports one central processing unit (CPU), supports up to 1GB of RAM, and has a maximum database size of 4GB. It does not have full 64-bit support, but it will run on 64-bit operating systems using the Windows-on-Windows (WOW) technology.

Workgroup Edition Workgroup Edition supports two CPUs, supports up to 3GB of RAM, and has no maximum database size limit. It does not have full 64-bit support, but it will run on 64-bit operating systems using the WOW technology. In addition, this edition provides backup log-shipping, full-text search, the SQL Server Agent scheduling service, and the Report Builder.

Standard Edition Standard Edition supports four CPUs, supports as much RAM as the operating system (OS) can support, and has no maximum database size limit. It has full 64-bit support. In addition to all the features that Workgroup Edition provides, Standard Edition has database mirroring, failover clustering, the Database Tuning Advisor, Notification Services, Integration Services with basic transforms, and Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) endpoints.

Enterprise/Developer Edition These two editions support as many CPUs as the OS allows, support as much RAM as the OS can support, and have no maximum database size limit. They have full 64-bit support. In addition to all the features that the Standard Edition and Workgroup Edition provide, these editions offer partitioning, parallel index operations, indexed views, online indexing and restoration, fast recovery, Integration Services advanced transforms, Oracle replication, the scale-out of report servers, and data-driven subscriptions (for Reporting Services).

Now you have the hardware and OS in place, but you have still more to consider before you can install SQL Server.

Preparing to Install

Before you actually install SQL Server, which you'll do in Exercise 1.1, you'll need to understand a few topics, so in this section we'll discuss some of the decisions you need to make before installing.

Choosing Default Instances or Named Instances

One of the first choices you need to make is whether this SQL Server is the default instance or a named instance. That may seem a bit confusing if you are new to SQL Server; named instances are essentially like running multiple SQL Servers on one machine. The most common time to run multiple instances is when you need to run multiple versions of SQL Server but you have limited hardware resources. By using this method you can have SQL Server 2005 running as a named instance and SQL Server 7.0 or 2000 running as the default instance. Your client machines will see two distinct SQL Servers on the network, even though they are both running on the same machine.

The default instance is selected by default (no pun intended) and should be left that way for the first installation of SQL Server on a machine. Subsequent installations on the same machine can be given installation names of up to 16 characters. Clients will then use this new name to refer to the new instance.

Choosing Service Accounts

When you first turn on your Windows machine and try to use it, you are presented with a dialog box that asks you for a username and password. That username and password give you access to the machine (and the network) with whatever privileges your administrator has seen fit to assign. Many services, such as programs running in the background, require a user account just like you do. This special user account, called a service account, gives the service access to the machine and network with the privileges it requires to get its work done.

The SQL Server services require a user account to run, so you need to pick one of three types, as shown in Table 1.4.

If you opt to use a user account (local or domain), you must first create it using the appropriate tool for your operating system. If you create only one account to be used by both SQL Server and SQL Server Agent services (discussed later in this book), then you must add the user account to the Administrators local group; otherwise, replication (also discussed later in this book) will not function properly. If you decide you want greater control over the security on your network, then you can add two separate accounts, one for the SQL Server service and one for the SQL Server...