Microsoft always publishes the so-called Microsoft SQL Server Express variant for every full-fledged Microsoft SQL Server version . This is a full version of Microsoft SQL Server , but there are a few restrictions.
The main limitation is the limitation of the maximum database size that can be used with SQL Server Express Edition . Microsoft has repeatedly changed this maximum database size in recent years. We want to go into the maximum database sizes of the different SQL editions in the following list .
The following limitations of the available SQL Server Edition currently exist:
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express has a maximum database size of 4GB.
- Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express has a maximum database size of 4GB.
- Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Express has a maximum database size of 10GB.
- Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Express has a maximum database size of 10GB.
- Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Express has a maximum database size of 10GB.
- Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Express has a maximum database size of 10GB.
- Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Express has a maximum database size of 10GB.
This limitation cannot be avoided either. If you want to use databases that are larger than the maximum database size, you only have to take the step to the full version of SQL Server . In addition, the SQL databases cannot be backed up with the SQL Express versions as comfortably as with the full SQL versions.
The latest version of SQL Server that has been officially released by Microsoft is the Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Express . You can download it here after registering with Microsoft .
Microsoft has published the latest SQL Server version 2017 since the beginning of 2018. You can find all the information you need about SQL Server 2017 on Microsoft’s SQL pages .
