How to Download and Install SQL Server 2018
SQL Server 2018 is a powerful and versatile data platform that offers a range of features and benefits for data management, analysis, and business intelligence. Whether you are a developer, a database administrator, or a business user, you can use SQL Server 2018 to build, deploy, and manage applications that run on-premises, in the cloud, or at the edge. In this article, you will learn how to download and install SQL Server 2018 on your Windows machine, as well as how to compare the different editions, check the system requirements, and configure the settings.
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Introduction
SQL Server 2018 is the latest version of Microsoft's relational database management system (RDBMS) that was released in September 2020. It is based on the same code base as SQL Server 2019, but with some additional features and enhancements. Some of the main features and benefits of SQL Server 2018 are:
It supports data virtualization using PolyBase, which allows you to query data from multiple sources such as HDFS, Azure Blob Storage, Oracle, MongoDB, and more without moving or copying the data.
It offers improved performance and security with intelligent query processing, always encrypted with secure enclaves, data discovery and classification, accelerated database recovery, and more.
It enables real-time analytics and machine learning with built-in support for R and Python, integration with Azure Machine Learning Services, native scoring with T-SQL PREDICT function, and more.
It provides high availability and scalability with always on availability groups, read scale-out availability groups, persistent memory support, memory-optimized tempdb, and more.
It supports Linux, Docker containers, Kubernetes, Java applications, UTF-8 encoding, Azure Data Studio, and more.
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SQL Server 2018 Editions Comparison
SQL Server 2018 comes in different editions that vary in terms of features, performance, scalability, licensing, and pricing. Depending on your data needs and workload scenarios, you can choose the edition that best suits your business goals. The following table compares the main features and prices of SQL Server 2018 editions:
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Edition
Description
Features
Price
Enterprise
The premium offering that delivers comprehensive datacenter capabilities for mission-critical workloads.
All features including data virtualization, real-time analytics, machine learning services, always encrypted with secure enclaves, high availability groups with up to eight replicas, etc.
$14.256 per core (minimum four cores)
Standard
The basic data management and business intelligence solution for small to medium-sized organizations.
Limited features including basic high availability groups with two replicas, basic machine learning services with R support only, basic data integration services with limited parallelism, etc.
$3 .564 per core (minimum four cores)
Developer
A free edition that provides the same features as Enterprise edition for development and testing purposes only.
All features of Enterprise edition.
Free
Express
A free edition that provides a lightweight database solution for small-scale applications and data sources.
Limited features including 10 GB maximum database size, 1 GB maximum memory, 4 cores maximum, no high availability, no machine learning services, etc.
Free
Web
A low-cost edition that provides a scalable database solution for web hosting and web application providers.
Limited features including 64 GB maximum memory, 16 cores maximum, basic high availability groups with two replicas, basic data integration services with limited parallelism, etc.
$0.518 per hour (based on virtual core)
If you want to learn more about SQL Server 2018 editions and licensing, you can visit [this page].
SQL Server 2018 System Requirements
Before you download and install SQL Server 2018, you need to make sure that your system meets the minimum and recommended requirements for hardware and software. The following table lists the requirements for different operating systems and components:
Operating System
Minimum Requirements
Recommended Requirements
Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 10, Windows 8.1
- 1.4 GHz or faster processor- 1 GB of RAM- 6 GB of available hard disk space- .NET Framework 4.7.2 or later- Internet Explorer 11 or later
- 2 GHz or faster processor- 4 GB of RAM or more- 10 GB of available hard disk space or more- .NET Framework 4.7.2 or later- Internet Explorer 11 or later
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7.3 or later, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) v12 SP2 or later, Ubuntu 16.04 or later, Debian GNU/Linux 9 or later, Oracle Linux 7.3 or later, CentOS Linux 7.3 or later
- x64 processor- Minimum of 512 MB of RAM- Minimum of 3.5 GB of available hard disk space- glibc version >=2.17-55- openssl version >=1.0.1e-51- libunwind8 package installed- libcurl package installed- libuuid package installed- libnuma package installed (for NUMA support)
- x64 processor- Minimum of 2 GB of RAM- Minimum of 6 GB of available hard disk space- glibc version >=2.17-55- openssl version >=1.0.1e-51- libunwind8 package installed- libcurl package installed- libuuid package installed- libnuma package installed (for NUMA support)
Docker Engine - Enterprise version 18.09 or later, Docker Engine - Community version 18.09 or later
- x64 processor- Minimum of 2 GB of RAM- Minimum of 6 GB of available hard disk space- Docker version >=18.09 with overlayfs storage driver enabled (for Linux containers)- Docker version >=18.09 with LCOW support enabled (for Windows containers)
- x64 processor- Minimum of 4 GB of RAM- Minimum of 10 GB of available hard disk space- Docker version >=18.09 with overlayfs storage driver enabled (for Linux containers)- Docker version >=18.09 with LCOW support enabled (for Windows containers)
If you want to learn more about SQL Server 2018 system requirements, you can visit [this page].
SQL Server 2018 Installation Guide
Once you have decided which edition of SQL Server 2018 you want to use and verified that your system meets the requirements, you can proceed to download and install SQL Server 2018 on your machine. There are two main ways to do this: using the graphical user interface (GUI) or using the command prompt (CMD). Here are the steps for both methods:
Using the GUI
Go to [this page] and select the edition of SQL Server 2018 you want to download. You can either download the ISO file or the CAB file, depending on your preference.
Mount or extract the downloaded file and run the setup.exe file to launch the SQL Server Installation Center.
On the left pane, click on Installation and then click on New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation.
Follow the instructions on the screen to specify the product key, accept the license terms, select the features you want to install, choose the instance name and location, configure the server roles and accounts, set the authentication mode and password for the system administrator (sa) account, select the collation and data directories, enable or disable additional services and features, and review and confirm the installation settings.
Click on Install to start the installation process. Wait for it to complete and then close the setup wizard.
Using the CMD
Go to [this page] and select the edition of SQL Server 2018 you want to download. You can either download the ISO file or the CAB file, depending on your preference.
Mount or extract the downloaded file and open a command prompt window as an administrator.
Navigate to the folder where the setup.exe file is located and run it with the /qs parameter to perform a quiet installation with default settings. For example: setup.exe /qs
If you want to customize the installation settings, you can use other parameters such as /ACTION, /FEATURES, /INSTANCENAME, /SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS, /SAPWD, /TCPENABLED, /IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS, etc. For a full list of parameters and their descriptions, you can visit [this page]. For example: setup.exe /qs /ACTION=Install /FEATURES=SQLEngine /INSTANCENAME=MSSQLSERVER /SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS="NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM" /SAPWD="P@ssw0rd" /TCPENABLED=1 /IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS
Wait for the installation process to complete and then close the command prompt window.
SQL Server 2018 Configuration Guide
After installing SQL Server 2018, you may need to configure some settings to optimize its performance and functionality. Here are some of the common tasks you may want to do:
Updating SQL Server 2018
To ensure that your SQL Server 2018 is up to date with the latest patches and fixes, you should check for updates regularly and apply them as soon as possible. You can use Windows Update or Microsoft Update to automatically download and install updates for SQL Server 2018. Alternatively, you can manually download and install updates from [this page].
Connecting to SQL Server 2018
To connect to your SQL Server 2018 instance and start working with your databases, you can use various tools such as SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), Azure Data Studio (ADS), Visual Studio Code (VS Code), SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT), etc. You can also use command-line tools such as sqlcmd or PowerShell. To connect to your SQL Server 2018 instance, you need to provide the server name, authentication mode, username, password, and database name. For example: sqlcmd -S localhost -U sa -P P@ssw0rd -d master
Backing up and restoring databases
To protect your data from accidental loss or corruption, you should back up your databases regularly and store them in a safe location. You can use SSMS, ADS, VS Code, SSDT, etc. to create backup files for your databases. You can also use Transact-SQL commands such as BACKUP DATABASE or BACKUP LOG. To restore your databases from backup files, you can use SSMS , ADS, VS Code, SSDT, etc. to restore backup files to your databases. You can also use Transact-SQL commands such as RESTORE DATABASE or RESTORE LOG. For more information on how to back up and restore databases, you can visit [this page].
Securing SQL Server 2018
To protect your SQL Server 2018 instance and your data from unauthorized access or malicious attacks, you should implement some security measures such as:
Using strong passwords for your system administrator (sa) account and other user accounts.
Enabling encryption for your data at rest and in transit using features such as transparent data encryption (TDE), always encrypted, or SSL/TLS.
Applying the principle of least privilege and granting only the necessary permissions and roles to your users and applications.
Using firewall rules and network security groups to restrict the access to your SQL Server 2018 instance from specific IP addresses or ports.
Monitoring and auditing your SQL Server 2018 activity and logs using features such as SQL Server Audit, extended events, or dynamic management views (DMVs).
For more information on how to secure SQL Server 2018, you can visit [this page].
Conclusion
In this article, you have learned how to download and install SQL Server 2018 on your Windows machine, as well as how to compare the different editions, check the system requirements, and configure the settings. SQL Server 2018 is a powerful and versatile data platform that offers a range of features and benefits for data management, analysis, and business intelligence. Whether you are a developer, a database administrator, or a business user, you can use SQL Server 2018 to build, deploy, and manage applications that run on-premises, in the cloud, or at the edge. If you want to get started with SQL Server 2018, you can download the free Developer edition or the Express edition from [this page]. If you want to learn more about SQL Server 2018, you can visit [this page] for tutorials, documentation, videos, and more.
FAQs
Here are some of the frequently asked questions and answers related to SQL Server 2018 download and installation:
Q: How can I upgrade from an older version of SQL Server to SQL Server 2018?
A: You can use the SQL Server Installation Center to upgrade from an older version of SQL Server to SQL Server 2018. You need to select the Upgrade from a previous version of SQL Server option on the Installation page and follow the instructions on the screen. You can also use the command prompt to perform an upgrade using the /ACTION=Upgrade parameter. For more information on how to upgrade to SQL Server 2018, you can visit [this page].
Q: How can I uninstall SQL Server 2018 from my machine?
A: You can use the Control Panel to uninstall SQL Server 2018 from your machine. You need to go to Programs and Features and select Microsoft SQL Server 2018 from the list of installed programs. Then you need to click on Uninstall/Change and follow the instructions on the screen. You can also use the command prompt to perform an uninstallation using the /ACTION=Uninstall parameter. For more information on how to uninstall SQL Server 2018, you can visit [this page].
Q: How can I check the version and edition of my SQL Server 2018 instance?
A: You can use SSMS, ADS, VS Code, SSDT, etc. to connect to your SQL Server 2018 instance and run the following Transact-SQL command: SELECT @@VERSION;. This will return the version number, edition name, build number, platform name, and other information about your SQL Server 2018 instance.
Q: How can I troubleshoot any issues or errors that occur during or after installing SQL Server 2018?
A: You can use the following resources to troubleshoot any issues or errors that occur during or after installing SQL Server 2018:
The setup log files that are located in %programfiles%\MicrosoftSQLServer\150\Setup Bootstrap\Log\ folder.
The event viewer that records any events related to SQL Server 2018 installation or operation.
The online forums and communities that provide answers and solutions for common problems.
The Microsoft support team that provides technical assistance and guidance.
Q: How can I learn more about SQL Server 2018 features and functionalities?
A: You can use the following resources to learn more about SQL Server 2018 features and functionalities:
The official documentation that provides detailed information and guidance on how to use SQL Server 2018.
The online tutorials and courses that provide hands-on learning and practice on SQL Server 2018 topics.
The blogs and videos that showcase the latest news and updates on SQL Server 2018 developments and innovations.
The books and ebooks that offer in-depth knowledge and insights on SQL Server 2018 concepts and techniques.
I hope you have found this article helpful and informative. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below. Thank you for reading and happy learning! 44f88ac181
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