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SQL Server 2016 & 2017: Hardware & software requirements |
A list of hardware, software, and operating system requirements for installing and running SQL Server 2016 and SQL Server 2017. |
MikeRayMSFT |
mikeray |
randolphwest |
03/28/2025 |
sql |
release-landing |
conceptual |
|
[!INCLUDE SQL Server -Windows Only]
The article lists the minimum hardware and software requirements to install and run SQL Server 2016 and SQL Server 2017 on the Windows operating system.
For hardware and software requirements for other versions of SQL Server, see:
The following hardware requirements apply to SQL Server 2016 and SQL Server 2017:
| Component | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Hard Disk | [!INCLUDE ssCurrent] requires a minimum of 6 GB of available hard-disk space. Disk space requirements vary with the [!INCLUDE ssCurrent] components you install. For more information, see Hard Disk Space Requirements later in this article. For information on supported storage types for data files, see Storage Types for Data Files. Installing SQL Server on computers with the NTFS or ReFS file formats is recommended. The FAT32 file system is supported but not recommended as it is less secure than the NTFS or ReFS file systems. Read-only, mapped, or compressed drives are blocked during installation. |
| Drive | A DVD drive, as appropriate, is required for installation from disk. |
| Monitor | [!INCLUDE ssCurrent] requires Super-VGA (800x600) or higher resolution monitor. |
| Internet | Internet functionality requires Internet access (fees might apply). |
| Memory * | Minimum: Express Editions: 512 MB All other editions: 1 GB Recommended: Express Editions: 1 GB All other editions: At least 4 GB and should be increased as database size increases to ensure optimal performance. |
| Processor Speed | Minimum: x64 Processor: 1.4 GHz Recommended: 2.0 GHz or faster |
| Processor Type | x64 Processor: All Intel and AMD x86-64 CPUs with 64 cores or less per NUMA node |
Note
Installation of [!INCLUDE ssCurrent] is supported on x64 processors only. It is no longer supported on x86 processors.
* The minimum memory required for installing the [!INCLUDE ssDQSServer] component in [!INCLUDE ssDQSnoversion] (DQS) is 2 GB of RAM, which is different from the [!INCLUDE ssCurrent] minimum memory requirement. For information about installing DQS, see Install Data Quality Services.
The table in this section lists the minimum software requirements for running SQL Server. There are also recommended configuration options for optimal performance.
The following software requirements apply to all installations:
| Component | Requirement |
|---|---|
| .NET Framework | [!INCLUDE sql2016] and later require [!INCLUDE dnprdnshort] 4.6 for the Database Engine, Master Data Services, or Replication. SQL Server setup automatically installs [!INCLUDE dnprdnshort]. You can also manually install [!INCLUDE dnprdnshort] from Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6 (Web Installer) for Windows. For more information, recommendations, and guidance about [!INCLUDE dnprdnshort] 4.6 see .NET Framework Deployment Guide for Developers. [!INCLUDE win81], and [!INCLUDE winserver2012r2] require KB2919355 before installing [!INCLUDE dnprdnshort] 4.6. Note: Support for .NET Framework 4.5.2, 4.6, and 4.6.1 ended on April 26, 2022.
|
| Network Software | Supported operating systems for [!INCLUDE ssCurrent] have built-in network software. Named and default instances of a stand-alone installation support the following network protocols: Shared memory, Named Pipes, TCP/IP, and VIA. Note: VIA protocol is not supported on failover clusters. Clients or applications running on the same node of the failover cluster as the SQL Server instance, can use Shared Memory protocol to connect to SQL Server using its local pipe address. However this type of connection is not cluster-aware and fails after an instance failover. It is therefore not recommended and should only be used in specific scenarios. Important: The VIA protocol is deprecated. [!INCLUDE ssNoteDepFutureAvoid] For more information about Network Protocols and Network Libraries, see Network Protocols and Network Libraries. |
[!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] Setup installs the following software components required by the product:
- [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] Native Client
- [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] Setup support files
Important
There are additional hardware and software requirements for the PolyBase feature. For more information, see Get started with PolyBase.
The following table shows which editions of SQL Server 2017 are compatible with which versions of Windows:
| SQL Server edition: | Enterprise | Developer | Standard | Web | Express |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Server 2022 Datacenter | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2022 Standard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2019 Datacenter | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2019 Standard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2019 Essentials | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2016 Datacenter | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2016 Standard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2016 Essentials | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2012 R2 Foundation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2012 Datacenter | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2012 Standard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2012 Essentials | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2012 Foundation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows 11 IoT Enterprise | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 11 Enterprise | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 11 Professional | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 11 Home | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 10 IoT Enterprise | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 10 Enterprise | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 10 Professional | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 10 Home | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 8.1 Enterprise | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 8.1 Pro | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 8.1 Enterprise | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 8 Pro | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 8 | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
The following editions of Windows server support installing SQL Server 2017 on Server Core mode:
:::row::: :::column::: Windows Server 2022 Standard :::column-end::: :::column::: Windows Server 2022 Datacenter :::column-end::: :::column::: Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure edition :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column::: Windows Server 2019 Standard :::column-end::: :::column::: Windows Server 2019 Datacenter :::column-end::: :::column::: :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column::: Windows Server 2016 Standard :::column-end::: :::column::: Windows Server 2016 Datacenter :::column-end::: :::column::: :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column::: Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard :::column-end::: :::column::: Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter :::column-end::: :::column::: :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column::: Windows Server 2012 Standard :::column-end::: :::column::: Windows Server 2012 Datacenter :::column-end::: :::column::: :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column::: :::column-end::: :::column::: :::column-end::: :::row-end:::
For more information on installing SQL Server on Server Core, see Install SQL Server on Server Core.
Note
Installing SQL Server on a Windows OS on which case sensitivity is enabled is not supported. For more information review SQL Server is not supported on a Windows operating system on which case sensitivity is enabled
The following table shows which editions of SQL Server 2016 are compatible with which versions of Windows:
| SQL Server edition: | Enterprise | Developer | Standard | Web | Express |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Server 2022 Datacenter | No | No | No | No | No |
| Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition | No | No | No | No | No |
| Windows Server 2022 Standard | No | No | No | No | No |
| Windows Server 2019 Datacenter | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2019 Standard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2019 Essentials | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2016 Datacenter | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2016 Standard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2016 Essentials | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2012 R2 Foundation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2012 Datacenter | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2012 Standard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2012 Essentials | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2012 Foundation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows 11 IoT Enterprise | No | No | No | No | No |
| Windows 11 Enterprise | No | No | No | No | No |
| Windows 11 Professional | No | No | No | No | No |
| Windows 11 Home | No | No | No | No | No |
| Windows 10 IoT Enterprise | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 10 Enterprise | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 10 Professional | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 10 Home | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 8.1 Enterprise | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 8.1 Pro | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 8.1 Enterprise | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 8 Pro | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows 8 | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
For minimum version requirements to install [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] on [!INCLUDE winserver2012] or [!INCLUDE win8], see Installing SQL Server on Windows Server 2012 or Windows 8.
The following editions of Windows server support installing SQL Server 2016 on Server Core mode:
:::row::: :::column::: Windows Server 2019 Standard :::column-end::: :::column::: Windows Server 2019 Datacenter :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column::: Windows Server 2016 Standard :::column-end::: :::column::: Windows Server 2016 Datacenter :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column::: Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard :::column-end::: :::column::: Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column::: Windows Server 2012 Standard :::column-end::: :::column::: Windows Server 2012 Datacenter :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column::: :::column-end::: :::column::: :::column-end::: :::row-end:::
For more information on installing SQL Server on Server Core, see Install SQL Server on Server Core.
Note
Installing SQL Server on a Windows OS on which case sensitivity is enabled is not supported. For more information review SQL Server is not supported on a Windows operating system on which case sensitivity is enabled
WOW64 (Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit) is a feature of 64-bit editions of Windows that enables 32-bit applications to run natively in 32-bit mode. Applications function in 32-bit mode, even though the underlying operating system is a 64-bit operating system. WOW64 is not supported for [!INCLUDE ssCurrent] installations. However, Management Tools are supported in WOW64.
Windows client operating systems, for example Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 are available as 32-bit or 64-bit architectures. All SQL Server features are supported on 64-bit client operating systems. On supported 32-bit client operating systems Microsoft supports the following features:
- Data Quality Client
- Client Tools Connectivity
- Integration Services
- Client Tools Backward Compatibility
- Client Tools SDK
- Documentation Components
- Distributed Replay Components
- Distributed Replay Controller
- Distributed Replay Client
- SQL Client Connectivity SDK
[!INCLUDE winserver2008r2] and later server operating systems are not available as 32-bit architectures. All supported server operating systems are only available as 64-bit. All features are supported on 64-bit server operating systems.
For more information about cross-language support and considerations for installing [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] in localized languages, see Local Language Versions in SQL Server.
During installation of [!INCLUDE ssCurrent], Windows Installer creates temporary files on the system drive. Before you run Setup to install or upgrade [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion], verify that you have at least 6.0 GB of available disk space on the system drive for these files. This requirement applies even if you install [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] components to a non-default drive.
Actual hard disk space requirements depend on your system configuration and the features that you decide to install. The following table provides disk space requirements for [!INCLUDE ssCurrent] components.
| Feature | Disk space requirement |
|---|---|
| [!INCLUDE ssDE] and data files, Replication, Full-Text Search, and Data Quality Services | 1480 MB |
| [!INCLUDE ssDE] (as above) with R Services (In-Database) | 2744 MB |
| [!INCLUDE ssDE] (as above) with PolyBase Query Service for External Data | 4194 MB |
| [!INCLUDE ssASnoversion] and data files | 698 MB |
| [!INCLUDE ssRSnoversion] | 967 MB |
| [!INCLUDE rsql_platform] (Standalone) | 280 MB |
| [!INCLUDE ssRSnoversion] - SharePoint | 1203 MB |
| [!INCLUDE ssRSnoversion] Add-in for SharePoint Products | 325 MB |
| [!INCLUDE ssDQSClient] | 121 MB |
| Client Tools Connectivity | 328 MB |
| [!INCLUDE ssISnoversion] | 306 MB |
| Client Components (other than [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] Books Online components and Integration Services tools) | 445 MB |
| [!INCLUDE ssMDSshort] | 280 MB |
| [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] Books Online Components to view and manage help content* | 27 MB |
| All Features | 8030 MB |
*The disk space requirement for downloaded Books Online content is 200 MB.
The supported storage types for data files are:
- Local Disk
- [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] currently supports disk drives that have standard native sector sizes of 512 bytes and 4 KB. Hard disks with sector sizes larger than 4 KB can cause errors when attempting to store [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] data files on them. See Troubleshoot errors related to system disk sector size greater than 4 KB for more information on hard disk sector-size support in [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion]. Currently, the
ForcedPhysicalSectorSizeInBytesregistry key is required to successfully install SQL Server on some newer storage devices with system disk sector size greater than 4 KB. - [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] failover cluster installation supports Local Disk only for installing the
tempdbfiles. Ensure that the path specified for the tempdb data and log files is valid on all the cluster nodes. During failover, if the tempdb directories are not available on the failover target node, the [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] resource fails to come online.
- [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] currently supports disk drives that have standard native sector sizes of 512 bytes and 4 KB. Hard disks with sector sizes larger than 4 KB can cause errors when attempting to store [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] data files on them. See Troubleshoot errors related to system disk sector size greater than 4 KB for more information on hard disk sector-size support in [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion]. Currently, the
- Shared Storage
- Storage Spaces Direct (S2D)
- SMB File Share
- SMB storage is not supported for [!INCLUDE ssASnoversion] data files for either standalone or clustered installations. Use direct attached storage, a storage area network, or S2D instead.
- SMB storage can be hosted by a Windows File Server or a third-party SMB storage device. If Windows File Server is used, the Windows File Server version should be 2008 or later. For more information about installing [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] using SMB file share as a storage option, see Install SQL Server with SMB Fileshare as a Storage Option.
Installing [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] on a Domain Controller
For security reasons, we recommend that you do not install [!INCLUDE ssCurrent] on a domain controller. [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] Setup doesn't block installation on a computer that is a domain controller, but the following limitations apply:
-
You cannot run [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] services on a domain controller under a local service account.
-
After [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] is installed on a computer, you cannot change the computer from a domain member to a domain controller. You must uninstall [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] before you change the host computer to a domain controller.
-
After [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] is installed on a computer, you cannot change the computer from a domain controller to a domain member. You must uninstall [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] before you change the host computer to a domain member.
-
[!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] failover cluster instances are not supported where cluster nodes are domain controllers.
-
[!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] is not supported on a read-only domain controller. [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] Setup cannot create security groups or provision [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] service accounts on a read-only domain controller. In this scenario, Setup fails.
[!NOTE]
This restriction also applies to installations on domain member nodes. -
A [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] failover cluster instance is not supported in an environment where only a read-only domain controller is accessible.
[!NOTE]
This restriction also applies to installations on domain member nodes.
You can get relevant installation media from the following locations:
Alternatively, you can create an Azure virtual machine already running SQL Server.