Microsoft SQL Server Lifecycle: End Of Life And Support Status
Last updated on April 18, 2024
Microsoft SQL Server is a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) that operates in the client-server mode. This management system is built on top of the SQL programming language.
Support status guide
End of life (EOL) is the end of a product’s useful life. When a product reaches the end of its life cycle, the manufacturer no longer supports it. The following table explains the different phases of a product’s lifecycle. Testing status is when the product is initially released and EOL is when product support is no longer offered. The time between these two points is the support timeframe.
Testing
The software is not yet publicly available. It is in testing phase i.e., alpha, beta, release preview etc.
Active
The software is actively supported by the vendor.
Phasing Out
The software will soon reach its end of life. You need to look for upgrade or migration options. The software will automatically go into phasing out status 2 months before end of life.
End Of Life
The software is no longer supported by the vendor. You need to make sure your system and environment are safe.
Version
Released
Active Support
Security Support
(16 November 2022)
(11 January 2028)
(11 January 2033)
(4 November 2019)
(7 January 2025)
(8 January 2030)
(29 September 2017)
(11 October 2022)
(12 October 2027)
(24 April 2018)
(13 July 2021)
(14 July 2026)
(30 October 2018)
(9 July 2019)
(9 July 2024)
(20 May 2012)
(17 July 2017)
(12 July 2022)
(20 July 2010)
(8 July 2014)
(9 July 2019)
(6 November 2008)
(8 July 2014)
(9 July 2019)
(14 January 2006)
(12 April 2011)
(12 April 2016)
(30 November 2000)
(8 April 2008)
(9 April 2013)
(27 November 1998)
(31 December 2005)
(11 January 2011)
(30 June 1996)
(1 January 2002)
(1 January 2002)
(13 January 1995)
(31 March 1999)
(31 March 1999)
Every SQL server version has its own defined support policy and rules, and the same does not apply to every version. Before SQL Server 2016, some versions also received Service Pack (SP) updates, which were considered major updates. However, now, SQL Servers will only continue to receive cumulative (CU) updates.
The first Microsoft SQL Server was launched in 1988 and was Microsoft’s first enterprise-level database management system. Since then, many different iterations have been made to include more features and enhance performance.
The list below highlights the major features introduced with each SQL Server version.
- SQL Server 1.0: First release in collaboration with Sybase. Had basic functionality
- SQL Server 4.2: Released in 1992, SQL Server 4.2 was the first version to be released for Microsoft Windows. It provided better support for Windows and had new features, including support for stored procedures, triggers, and views.
- SQL Server 6.0: Improved scalability and performance, and included support for distributed queries and transactions. It was the first version to support ODBC (Open Database Connectivity), a standard for accessing databases.
- SQL Server 7.0: It introduced data transformation services, OLAP (Online Analytical Processing), and support for XML (Extensible Markup Language). It was also the first version to use the Windows NT kernel.
- SQL Server 2000: It included support for data mining, database replication, and backup compression. It was also the first version to support the Windows Server operating system.
- SQL Server 2005 (Yukon): Included support for CLR (Common Language Runtime), XML data types, and database snapshots. It was also the first version to use the .NET Framework.
- SQL Server 2008 (Katmai): Included support for structured and semi-structured data, including digital media formats for pictures, audio, video, and other multimedia data. It also enhanced the indexing algorithms and introduced the notion of filtered indexes, Resource Governor that allows reserving resources for certain users or workflows, and capabilities for transparent encryption of data (TDE) as well as compression of backups. SQL Server 2008 also received 3 extra years of Extended Security Updates, which ended on 12th July 2022.
- SQL Server 2008 R2 (Kilimanjaro): Includes a master data management system, Multi Server Management support, Reporting Services, Analysis Services, and Integration Services. SQL Server 2008 R2 also received 3 extra years of Extended Security Updates, which ended on 12th July 2022.
- SQL Server 2012 (Denali): Included Always On SQL Server Failover Cluster Instances and Availability Groups, contained Databases that simplify the moving of databases between instances, new and modified Dynamic Management Views and Functions, new spatial features, metadata discovery, sequence objects, and the THROW statement, and other performance enhancements such as ColumnStore Indexes as well as improvements to OnLine and partition level operations. SQL Server 2012 also received 3 extra years of Extended Security Updates, which ends on 8th July 2025.
- SQL Server 2014: Provided a new in-memory capability for tables that can fit entirely in memory, also enhances the Always On (HADR) solution. It also gave a new hybrid disaster recovery and backup solutions with Microsoft Azure.
- SQL Server 2016: Supported on only x64-based processors, and the last of the SQL Servers to receive a service pack update.
- SQL Server 2017: Can run on Linux and Docker containers, adaptive query processing, Python support, graph database capabilities, Pauseable online index rebuild, and enhancements to identity caching.
- SQL Server 2019: Introduced Big Data Clusters, also provides additional capability and improvements for the SQL Server database engine, SQL Server Analysis Services, SQL Server Machine Learning Services, SQL Server on Linux, and SQL Server Master Data Services
- SQL Server 2022: It included Parameter Sensitive Plan Optimization, Query Store enhancements, link to Azure SQL Managed Instance, Contained Availability Groups, Azure Synapse Link for SQL, Multi-Write Replication, Azure Active Directory authentication, Azure Purview integration, SQL Server Ledger, and AWS S3 storage integration.
EOLs
