SQL Technology Bundled with Servers

New bundles that combine SQL Server with a Microsoft systems management application will reduce the overall cost of those applications for customers. The bundles will appeal to smaller organizations that do not already have SQL Server applications in place and will aid larger organizations in designing more reliable implementations of their server applications. The bundles could also set a pattern for future applications.

Combining Databases, Applications

Almost all Microsoft server applications use databases to store data. A number of applications with relatively simple needs (to store configuration data, templates, or small amounts of authentication data) use the free Microsoft SQL Desktop Engine (MSDE), which is built on the SQL Server 2000 core but lacks most of the administrative tools that a general purpose database offers and is limited to a maximum database size of 2GB.

Applications that need to store more data, or that will be part of more complex data environments where database programmability and management are critical, typically require SQL Server 2000. This requirement has a considerable impact on total application cost: for example, a per-processor version of SQL Server 2000 starts at about US$4,750 (estimated U.S. volume price), significantly more than the price of many server applications themselves.