A. There are 6 true versions/types of SQL 7, all built on the same code-base, so they are all SQL 7, and the same servicepacks can be applied to all of them.
1. Enterprise Edition. Only runs on NT EE. Supports > 4 processors. Supports 2 node symmetrical clustering. Supports > 2Gb memory. Supports partitioned OLAP cubes - i.e. OLAP cubes running on multiple servers.
2. Standard Edition. Only runs on NT Server or higher. Supports up to 4 processors. Supports non-partitioned OLAP cubes. (This is the version that comes with BackOffice 4.5)
3. Desktop Edition. Can run on any NT or Windows 9x. Some feature and performance limitations - e.g. not all optimisations (like parallelism), only single threaded recovery, not as much use of async io (Windows 9x doesn't support at all), db's only opened when needed. Performance has generally been throttled back to make it unsuitable for a multiple client environment - if you try and use more than 5-6 concurrent users you will find performance tapers off. N.B. You can't buy the desktop edition on it's own. You have to buy the standard/enterprise edition - the installs for which allow a desktop install to be done. The desktop version just needs a CAL per copy as a license. Full-text search engine is not supported on desktop edition.
4. Small Business Edition (Part of SBS 4.5). Same as Standard Edition except limited to 100 users and 10Gb per databases. This version can be updated to the Standard Edition if needed.
5. Developer Edition. This is supplied with Visual Studio 6.0 and has the same restrictions as MSDE.
6. MSDE. This is a run-time engine, delivered as part of Office 2000, and can act as a back end to Access 2000 instead of Jet - although Jet will still be supported. Has some admin tools, though not the full SQL EM MMC environment. e.g. does not include DTS design tools though you can run pre-developed DTS packages against it. Footprint in disk space is 35Mb, working set is 6-7mb at startup, 2-5mb for processing. Limited to 2Gb per database. MSDE is freely distributable as long as the application you package it with was developed using a licensed copy of the Microsoft Office 2000 Developer Edition. Note MSDE is packaged as v1.0 but it's still really SQL 7.0. Performance is similarly throttled back like with desktop edition. Full-text search engine is not supported on MSDE.
In addition to these there is an Evaluation edition that is the same as standard edition, but is a 120-day time-limited version.
To detect which one you are running you need to parse the output from "SELECT @@VERSION" - which will have in it strings as below.
MSDE on ..............
Desktop Edition on .................
Standard Edition on .................
Enterprise Edition on ................
Small Business Server Edition on ................
Developer Edition on ................
Standard Edition Evaluation on .................
e.g. IF (CHARINDEX('MSDE', @@version) > 0 ) .... <<< You have MSDE
