Guys, I've noticed something odd about the msdn downloads which someone could
comment on. For example, under sql server 2008 r2 I can see downloads for the
developer, enterprise, standard, web, workgroup, and data centre versions.
What's puzzling me is that each of the listed downloads is 4.177MB. I
downloaded the developer, enterprise, and workgroup versions. In each case,
the size of the .iso are exactly the same. I then extracted the .iso files
into an installation folder and again, there are exactly the same number of
folders and files in each version and the total size is exactly the same.

If this is intentional then I can't see why MS would make 6 so-called
versions available to me to download if they are all exactly the same. In
that case, it would be more helpful if they listed only one downloadable file
as that would remove all confusion. It's also possible that MS might have
made a mistake making the downloads available? After all, you'd expect six
different versions of a product to be different by at least one byte! :-)

Could someone have a look at this for me and let me know if it's
intentionally done this way or if it's perhaps a problem at the msdn download
site?

Many thanks.

Peter.

As a quick update I did notice that the only difference between the developer
and enterprise versions are in three files called DefaultSetup.ini which had
(same length) but different PID codes. Is it possible the PID codes explain
why one version is a developer and another is an enterprise? Unlikely perhaps
but maybe...

PHS (PHS (AT) discussions (DOT) microsoft.com) writes:
I would say that this is very likely. Enterprise and Developer are
after all functionally equal. All that differs is the license.



--
Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, esquel (AT) sommarskog (DOT) se

Links for SQL Server Books Online:
SQL 2008: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlserver/cc514207.aspx
SQL 2005: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlserver/bb895970.aspx
SQL 2000: http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinf...ons/books.mspx

"Erland Sommarskog" wrote:

Erland, what you wrote wae more or less confirmed to me by the Online
Concierge chat I had recently. I don't know though why the other versions,
Standard, Web, Workgroup and Data Centre are the same sizes as well,
differing only in the PID contained in the .ini files.

PHS (PHS (AT) discussions (DOT) microsoft.com) writes:
A plausible reason is that rather building each edition separately, checks
on what edition it is are conducted at run-time. This could be the
executables themselves, or that the Setup kit ships with different
executables for different editions, and then installs the appropriate
executable for the selected edition.


--
Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, esquel (AT) sommarskog (DOT) se

Books Online for SQL Server 2005 at
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro...ads/books.mspx
Books Online for SQL Server 2000 at
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinf...ons/books.mspx

"Erland Sommarskog" wrote:

Thanks Erland. That probably explains it. I'm certainly eligible to download
the versions from my msdn subscription so I'll take it from here. Unless
something goes wrong somewhere and I need to come back on it, I'll sign this
one off as resolved.