What is MS SQL Server? What do I lose if I remove it?

[nomail1983]

A new Dell computer comes with the MS SQL Server installed along with
XP Pro 2002 SP2. An older Dell computer, also with XP Pro 2002 SP2,
does not have the MS SQL Server.

Can I assume that it is safe to remove the MS SQL Server? If so, what
features am I losing, if any?

If I choose to keep the MS SQL Server, can anyone explain why "all of a
sudden" (first time in a month or so), it appears that the MS SQL
Monitor (TCP port 1434) tried to open a local connection on the system?

That is, what possible activities would wake up the SQL Monitor and
cause it to open to a local connection?

That caused an NIS Personal Firewall alert to pop up. Unfortunately, I
neglected to see if the NIS alert told me the "remote" TCP port number,
which might offer a clue as to what the SQL Monitor was doing. But I
bet the "remote" TCP port number was 1433 -- the port number registered
to the SQL Server.

FYI, the new Dell computer is stand-alone (not part of workgroup or
intranet). It does not have MS Access installed. I believe there is
no other DB application -- although I cannot be sure because I cannot
access that computer at the moment.

Thanks for any insights or pointers to postings that might discuss this.

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Try here:

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/default.mspx

--


Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups

 

[nomail1983]

Try here:
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/default.mspx

Thanks. I think that did help to an extent, especially the
architecture diagram. Let me parrot what I took away from that web
site and set if I got it right. The SQL Server provides a degree of
integration among applications, including MS Office, Visual Studio and
applications that depend on the .NET runtime environment. To be
honest, I know almost nothing about the latter two, but it is my (weak)
understanding that some applications might depend on them.

Is that right?

So, if I disable or remove the SQL Server, I might implicitly disable
some applications that rely on that degree of integration.

But I wonder: do most so-called "world-class" applications have
work-arounds in case the SQL Server is not available?

In any case, I can accept the fact that the SQL Server would be needed
by some applications that rely on or implement databases. And I can
appreciate the fact that it might not be obvious to me which
applications that might be, other than "the usual suspects" like MS
Access.

Do you know just how pervasive the dependency is? Would it be
reasonable for me to disable the SQL Server and simply see what fails
subsequently?

What do other people do? Do you just tolerate the SQL Server?

The products primarily used on that computer are: Outlook Express, MS
Word, Excel, MS Media Player, RealPlayer and IE.

Do you know if any of those applications necessarily depend on the SQL
Server -- that is, if they depend implicitly on databases, perhaps of
their own.

If it is reasonable for me to disable the SQL Server, can you tell me
how -- without actually removing it?

As I recall, I did not find any obvious way to disable it.

Sorry about all the questions. They reflect my trepidation about
messing with something I know nothing about (the SQL Server). At the
same time, I am eager to rid the system of "unnecessary" products,
especially those that might wake up and bother the user periodically,
perhaps implicitly via NIS alerts.

Thanks again for any insights.

 

[Seahawk60B]

I'm not sure why a new PC from Dell would have SQL - what SQL
components are actually installed on the PC - is it MSDE? (MS SQL
Desktop Engine). The assumption would be you have some application
with a DB backend using it, but if you look at the services, you should
be able to disable it there and see what breaks.