SQL Server Samples Portal Page > SQL Server Sample Databases

Sample Databases

SQL Server 2008 RC0 product samples are now available.

This site is dedicated to the several sample databases that ship for Microsoft SQL Server. You can find installers containing the sample databases on the Releases tab. You can find scripts which were used to build the databases on the Source Code tab along with Visio, PDF and PNG versions of the schema diagrams.

Most sample databases and sample database business scenarios are documented on MSDN.

What do I download??

There are several considerations about choosing a download, which can be daunting when there are 32 files to choose from...

1. Which scenario databases you want to install.
2. Which year-model of the scenario databases you want to install.
3. Which platform you plan to install them on.
4. Which version of SQL Server you plan to install them on.

The legacy v2005 editions are essentially identically to the versions shipped for SQL Server 2005 to provide backwards compatibility to some Books Online documentation, existing books and training materials but they can only be installed on SQL Server 2008. Support for v2005 editions will be dropped with the next major version of SQL Server.

For new applications and materials, we recommend using the v2008 editions.

This table should make it a little easier to sort out for choosing SQL Server 2008 sample database installers. Select the file(s) to download for the SQL Server 2008 versions based on these conventions. Files are named as follows:

SQL2008.CONTENTS_vEDITION.PLATFORM.msi

File Name	Contents
SQL2008.AdventureWorksDBScripts_v*	T-SQL scripts and CSV files for loading all four databases in the AdventureWorks family of databases and diagrams for one year-model, either v2005 or v2008.
SQL2008.AdventureWorksDWBI_v*	T-SQL scripts, CSV files and database backups for loading the AdventureWorks Data Warehouse database, diagrams and Visual Studio/BIDS projects for Analysis Services projects for business intelligence samples for one year-model, either v2005 or v2008.
SQL2008.AdventureWorksLTDB_v*	T-SQL scripts and diagrams for the AdventureWorks "Lite" database for one year-model, either v2005 or v2008.
SQL2008.AdventureWorksOLTPDB_v*	T-SQL scripts, CSV files and database backups for loading the AdventureWorks OLTP database and diagrams for one year-model, either v2005 or v2008.

ZIP files are also provided for those who don't want to use signed executable installers.

Looking for SQL Server 2005 sample databases? Click on SQL Server 2005 in the Releases area on the upper right hand part of this page. Databases installers which begin with SQL2008 will only work on SQL Server 2008 instances and will not work correctly for SQL Server 2005 instances.

Purpose

The following sample databases are currently available for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008:

• The AdventureWorks OLTP database supports standard online transaction processing scenarios for a ficticious bicycle manufacturer (Adventure Works Cycles). Scenarios include Manufacturing, Sales, Purchasing, Product Management, Contact Management, and Human Resources.
• The Adventure Works DW database demonstrates how to build a data warehouse.
• The Adventure Works AS project can be used to build an AS database for business intelligence scenarios.
• The Adventure Works LT database is a highly simplified and smaller sample database which is helpful for those who are new to relational database technology.

The Adventure Works LT Database is documented here.

You can view the schema diagrams without downloading them here.

There is a new family of AdventureWorks sample databases specifically designed for SQL Server 2008. More information about these sample databases is located on the Releases tab.

Questions

Do you have questions or problems concerning CodePlex? See our FAQ.

Contributions

Please let us know in the developer forum for this project on the Discussions tab if you would like to contribute sample databases.

Note

These sample databases are completely schema compatible with what shipped for SQL Server 2005, and they have v2005 as part of their name. They will not install on SQL Server 2005 since they were updated to use SQL Server 2008. The sample databases with v2008 as part of their name are part of the new AdventureWorks 2008 family described below.

All databases use a case insensitive collation. Using the scripts you can create databases using any collation you wish.

AdventureWorks 2008 Family

New for SQL Server 2008 are the AdventureWorks 2008 family of sample databases. Use installers with v2008 in the name in order to select the AdventureWorks 2008 family.

The AdventureWorks 2008 family of databases demonstrates some of the new features of SQL Server 2008. This family of databases can only be used with SQL Server 2008 and will not install successfully for earlier versions of SQL Server. The table below lists the sample databases in this family:

Database Name	Description	Details
AdventureWorks2008	The new OLTP database designed for SQL Server 2008	Details
AdventureWorksDW2008	The new data warehouse designed for SQL Server 2008	Details
AdventureWorksAS2008	The new analysis services database designed for SQL Server 2008	Available now
AdventureWorksLT2008	The new light version of the OLTP database for SQL Server 2008	Available now

Please see the readme which installs with AdventureWorks2008, AdventureWorksDW2008, and AdventureWorks2009DBScripts installers for details about the changes for AdventureWorks 2008 and instructions for how to install the sample databases. By default this readme is installed to systemdrive:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Samples (where systemdrive is where you installed Windows).

We recommend that samples, books, and other training material which was originally targeted for SQL Server 2005 or earlier be updated to use the AdventureWorks 2008 family of databases within the next two years. Support for the v2005 installers will end when the next major release after SQL Server 2008 ships.