I’m working on migrating our system from Windows 2000 with SQL Server 2000 to Windows Server 2003 with SQL Server 2005. We also need to deploy a second application that will run on the same server setup.
Our software vendor is telling us that we must purchase the Enterprise edition of SQL Server 2005 because our two applications require different collation settings for their database connections. They claim that only the Enterprise version can handle multiple client collations on the same server instance.
I’ve been searching through Microsoft documentation but can’t find any evidence that this limitation exists in the Standard edition. Has anyone encountered this situation before? Can SQL Server 2005 Standard edition really not support different collations for different client connections?
I’m wondering if this is a legitimate technical requirement or if the vendor is just trying to push us toward the more expensive Enterprise license. Any insights would be really helpful before we make this purchase decision.
that’s total nonsense from ur vendor. I’ve used SQL Server 2005 Standard with mixed collations for years without issues. it seems like they’re just trying to upsell you to Enterprise when it’s not needed. get a second opinion before spending that cash.
Your vendor’s wrong about SQL Server 2005. Both Standard and Enterprise handle multiple collations on the same instance just fine - no restrictions whatsoever. They’re confused about how collation actually works. SQL Server 2005 Standard can definitely run databases with different collations on one instance. Each database gets its own collation setting, and you can even override it at the column level if you need to. Client connections don’t control collation requirements - it’s all about data storage and comparison operations. I’ve run SQL Server 2005 Standard with mixed collation databases for years without any problems. Collation gets set when you create the database and controls sorting, comparison, and case sensitivity for that specific database. Ask your vendor for actual documentation explaining why they think Enterprise is required. This sounds like they either don’t understand the product or they’re trying to push expensive licensing on you. Standard edition should handle your migration perfectly fine.
wait, this is interesting - what collation requirements do your apps actually need? I’m curious if there’s something unique about your setup that made the vendor think this way. have you tried asking them for documentation backing up their claim?