If you want to use Microsoft SQL Server in your network, of course you must first acquire it. Once again you have many options:

• If you are not on a budget, you can purchase Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise edition or Microsoft SQL Server Standard
• If you are cheap or you want to minimize your expenses, you can first install Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition (or Microsoft Windows Server Foundation, which is the easiest to acquire in the industry because some companies would install it in the server they are selling you). After installing the server, you can download a free edition of Microsoft SQL Server Express
• For a small business, probably the best way to go is to acquire Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS). It comes in two version. Microsoft SBS Standard doesn't come with Microsoft SQL Server and it has some limitations so that most small businesses would not need. A better alternative is Microsoft SBS Premium, which comes with both Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SQL Server (Standard, which should be enough for a small business). When you install Microsoft SBS Premium, it doesn't install Microsoft SQL Server. This means that you would have to install it separately
• The other two options are Microsoft SQL Server Workgroup or Microsoft SQL Server Developper edition (there is also Microsoft SQL Server Web)

After acquiring Microsoft SQL Server, you must install it, on the server of course. It has some prerequisites that you will be prompted to have on the server. Also, you must use an account that has administrative rights on the server. Once you are ready, install Microsoft SQL Server.

Before being able to connect client workstations to a database, you must prepare the server. Once the server can receive external connections, you can either connect to it when you launch SQL Server Management Studio or change the connection after starting Microsoft SQL Server.

In most cases, the default installation of Microsoft SQL Server doesn't allow clients to connect to it. Sometimes, if you try establishing a connection to the server, you may receive an error as "A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server.":

There are a few actions you must first perform, from the operating system's firewall to Microsoft SQL Server's own configuration. One of the actions you should take care of for client connectivity is to dig/create a hole in the firewall.

Besides taking care of the firewall, you should configure TCP/IP connectivity and create an alias.

To do this, on the server:

1. Click Start -> Control Panel
2. Double-click Windows Firewall
    
   
3. Click Change Settings. If you receive a warning message, click Continue
4. In the Windows Firewall Settings, click Exceptions
    
   
5. Click Add Port...
6. Set the Name to SQL
7. In the Port Number text box, type 1433 and make sure the TCP radio button is selected:
    
   
8. Click OK
    
   
9. Click OK
10. Close Windows Firewall
11. Close Control Panel
12. Click Start -> (All) Programs -> Microsoft SQL Server -> Configuration Tools -> SQL Server Configuration Manager. If you receive a warning message, click Continue
13. In the left frame, expand SQL Server Configuration Manager (Local) (it should be expanded already).
    Click SQL Server Services
14. In the right frame, right-click SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER) and click Stop.
    If the SQL Server Browser is started, to stop it, right-click SQL Server Browser and click Stop
     
    
15. In the left frame, expand SQL Server Network Configuration
16. Click Protocols for MSSQLSERVER
17. In the right frame, right-click TCP/IP and click Properties
18. Click IP Addresses
19. In the IP1 section, if the value of TCP Port is not 1433, click TCP Port, press Tab, and type 1433.
    Put the same value for the TCP Ports in the other sections
     
    
     
    
     
    
20. Click OK. You may receive a message box:
     
    
     
    Click the Protocol tab. If TCP/IP is not enabled, right-click TCP/IP, click Enable, and click OK
    
21. In the left frame, expand SQL Native Client 10.0 Configuration
22. Right-click Alias and click New Alias...
23. Accept the name of New Alias.
    Set the Port No to 1433 and accept the Protocol as TCP/IP
24. Type the name of the computer in the Server text box (case insensitive)
     
    
25. Click OK
26. In the left frame, click SQL Server Services
27. In the right frame, right-click SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER)
     
    
28. Click Start
29. Right-click SQL Server Browser and click Start
    
30. Also start SQL Server Agent
     
    
31. Close SQL Server Configuration Manager
32. Start Microsoft SQL Server and connect
33. In the Object Explorer, right-click the name of the computer and click Properties
34. In the left frame, click Connections.
    In the right section, make sure Allow Remote Connections To This Server is checked. If it is not, check it
     
    
35. Click OK

In order to connect to a database, a user must be authenticated. The authentication is done using a username and a password. In the absence of this, a user would receive an error:

The user can also take advantage of the group he or she belongs to. For this reason, the ability to be authenticated in order to access the database or resource is called a login.

Before creating a login, the person for whom you want to create the account must have a user account on the domain (the server). In other words, the user must have an account that allows him or her to establish a connection to the network.

To visually create a login in Microsoft SQL Server, in the Object Explorer, expand the Security node. Right-click Login and click New Login...

This would display the Login - New dialog box:

To connect to a Microsoft SQL Server database, the user must have a user name and a password. If you are visually creating a login and if you want the Microsoft Windows operating system to take care of logging, in which case the user will be able to connect to Microsoft SQL Server without providing a user name and a password, click the Windows Authentication radio button (it is the default and should be selected already). Here is an example:

Of course, the user's account must have been created already on the server (domain).

The user must also provide a password, which must be associated with the login. If you are visually creating the login, to provide a password, first click the SQL Server Authentication radio button. Then click the Password text box and type the desired password. Click the Confirm Password text box and type the same password.

Microsoft SQL Server make it possible to manage the server from a client workstation; that is, from almost any computer that can access the server. To use and manage the server from a workstation, you must install the client tools on the workstation you intend to use.

To install the client tools of Microsoft SQL Server, you use the same DVD of the server installation but make different choices. Because you need a professional operating system, the computer must run Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Windows Vista higher than Home Premium, or Microsoft Windows 7 higher than Home Premium. This means that Home Based and Home Premium operating systems must not be used in this scenario (of course you can install Microsoft SQL Server on Microsoft Windows Vista or 7 Home Premium, but those operating systems cannot access a Microsoft Windows Server 2008 computer, so there is no need to consider them in this case).

1. Start the client computer (Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Vista-7 > Home Premium)
2. Log in with an account that can connect to the server (this means that you must provide a username, a password, and select the domain)
3. Put the Microsoft SQL Server DVD in the drive and close it
4. Click Run SETUP.EXE to start the installation
    
   

   

5. If you are asked to install the .NET Framework and/or a hotfix, do it.
   In the left section, click Installation
    
   
6. Click New SQL Server Stand-Alone...
   The installation would start
    
   
7. You may be asked to restart the computer, or if you receive an error that the computer did not restart, then restart it. Then restart the installtion
    
   
   Click OK
8. On the next page, a message may ask you to install support files. Click Install
   

9. Click Next
10. The next page should show you a summary and may show a warning about the firewall:
    Ignore the warning and click Next
11. Click Next
12. If asked for the product key, type it and click Next
13. Click the check box to accept the license agreement and click Next
14. To install the client tools, click the check boxes of Client Tools Connectivity, Client Tools SDK, and Management Tools - Basic

15. After making your selections, click Next
    

16. Click Next
17. Click Next
    

18. Click Next
    

19. Click Install
    
20. Click Next.
    After a while, a message box will come up
    

21. Click Next
    
22. You should receive a message box announcing that the installation was successful:
    
    Click Close