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SQL Server 2012 Upgrade Technical Guide
For other useful data mining content, see the blogs by
Jamie MacLennan
(http://blogs.msdn.com/b/jamiemac) and
Bogdan Crivat
(http://www.bogdancrivat.net/dm).
Data Mining Features in SQL Server 2005, 2008, and 2008 R2
Before you start upgrading, make it a priority to review the data mining features
supported by the different editions of each version of SQL Server. Two tables in this
section show this feature information in condensed format. Note the following
abbreviations for editions for all versions:
DC = Datacenter Edition, available in SQL Server 2008 R2
EE = Enterprise Edition, available in SQL Server 2005, 2008, 2008 R2, and 2012
BI = Business Intelligence Edition, available in SQL Server 2012
SE = Standard Edition, available in SQL Server 2005, 2008, 2008 R2, and 2012
WG = Workgroup Edition, available in SQL Server 2005, 2008, and 2008 R2
WE = Web Edition, available in SQL Server 2008, 2008 R2, and 2012
SSE = SQL Server Express Edition and Express with Tools, available in SQL Server
2005, 2008, 2008 R2, and 2012
SSEA = SQL Server Express Edition with Advanced Services, available in SQL
Server 2005, 2008, 2008 R2, and 2012
In addition to the editions just mentioned, Microsoft offers the Developer Edition and
the Enterprise Evaluation Edition. They have the same functionality as the Enterprise
Edition, but the licensing is different. Data mining features are supported on quite
granular level in SQL Server 2005, 2008, and 2008 R2, as Table 1 shows. Cells with a
light gray background show editions and features available in SQL Server 2008 and SQL
Server 2008 R2 only.
Table 1: Data Mining Features in SQL Server 2008 R2 Editions
Feature
DC
EE
SE
WG
WE
SSE
SSEA
Standard data mining algorithms
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Data mining tools: wizards, editors,
and query builders
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Algorithm viewers
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Enhanced integrated OLAP and data
mining functionality (MDX prediction
function and DM dimensions)
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
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SQL Server 2012 Upgrade Technical Guide
Feature
DC
EE
SE
WG
WE
SSE
SSEA
Reporting integration with DM
prediction queries
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Parallelism for model processing
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Parallelism for model prediction
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Text-Mining Term Extraction
transformation (SSIS)
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Text-Mining Term Lookup
transformation (SSIS)
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Data Mining Query
transformation
(SSIS)
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Data Mining processing destination
(SSIS)
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Algorithm plug-in API
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Advanced configuration and tuning
options for data mining algorithms
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Unlimited concurrent data mining
queries
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Unlimited attributes for association
rules
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Multiple prediction targets for Naïve
Bayes, Neural Network, and Logistic
Regression
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Cross-validation
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Models on filtered subsets of mining
structure data
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Time series:
custom blending
between ARTXP and ARIMA models
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Time series: prediction with new data Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Time series: cross-series prediction
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Sequence prediction
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
As you can see, in SQL Server 2008 R2, many features are supported in the Enterprise
and Datacenter Editions only. Beside those two editions, Standard is the only edition
that supports data mining.
Microsoft simplified licensing for SQL Server 2012. There are fewer editions, with the
three major ones being the Standard, Business Intelligence, and Enterprise Editions.
Basic data mining starts with the Standard Edition, and all data mining features are
available in the Business Intelligence and Enterprise Editions. Table 2 shows details of
data mining features supported by the different editions of SQL Server 2012.