Updated: July 14, 2020 (December 23, 2013)

Licensing Rules May Favor SQL Server Enterprise

Wes Miller analyzes and writes about Microsoft’s security, identity management, and systems management technologies. Before joining Directions on Microsoft, Wes... more

Three editions of SQL Server 2012 are typically deployed by organizations, with Enterprise edition containing the entire set of features, while Business Intelligence edition and Standard edition each provide a decreasing subset. Traditionally, organizations base purchase decisions primarily on the technical features of each product edition. However, licensing factors may sometimes compel customers to buy more expensive Enterprise licenses, even though they intend to run SQL workloads that could be adequately handled by Business Intelligence edition or Standard edition.

Features and Packaging Can Influence Decision

SQL Server 2012 is available to volume licensing customers in three main editions: Standard, Business Intelligence, and Enterprise. Each edition addresses a specific database workload, and they are licensed as follows:

Standard edition is intended as an entry-level database or BI system, and it is the only edition that new customers can license using either a traditional server-Client

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