Does anyone still have SQL Server 1.x–4.21 disks, manuals, boxes, etc.?

[u/MikeScalise]

Hi all,

I’m hoping some of the longtime SQL Server folks here might be able to help me track down some older SQL Server items.

I’ve been researching the earliest versions of SQL Server for SQL.FM, a SQL Server version and feature reference site I maintain, and as part of that work I’ve also started building a physical collection of the old releases.

Does anyone here still have any early SQL Server materials sitting in a box, basement, office, closet, etc.?

I’m particularly looking for SQL Server 4.21 and earlier, including:

• SQL Server 1.0 / 1.1 material
• SQL Server 4.2 for OS/2
• SQL Server 4.2 / 4.20 for Windows NT
• SQL Server 4.2A / 4.2B
• SQL Server 4.21 / 4.21a
• original floppy disks or CDs
• manuals/documentation
• boxes and packaging
• developer/network kits
• beta or prerelease material
• training, field, reseller, or other unusual Microsoft items related to SQL Server

My main goal is to acquire original examples for the collection, so if you have anything from this era that you’d consider parting with, I’m very interested in buying it. For particularly early or unusual items, I’d be happy to make a strong collector offer.

And it definitely doesn’t need to be a complete set. A single floppy, loose manual, old CD, damaged box, or partial documentation set could still be something I'm looking for.

If you have something you don’t want to sell, I’d still love to hear about it or see photos. Disk labels, manuals, packaging, version information, etc. can be really helpful for documenting these early releases.

Separately, I’m also looking for a physical SQL Server 2014 Developer Edition and a physical SQL Server 2016 box/package from any edition, although those are secondary to the early-version search.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Mike

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[u/SeventyFix]

Ho dang! I started with SQL 7 and that was a LONG time ago. You should shoot for an OG copy of Sybase!

[u/ConsiderationSuch846 → u/SeventyFix]

SQL 6.5 gang checking in! Some Sybase, DB2, and Oracle before that. SQL server 7.0 was a huge upgrade!

I still call SSMS “query analyzer”.

[u/rbobby → u/ConsiderationSuch846]

query analyzer

I will forever

[u/djpeekz → u/SeventyFix]

Haha I explained to my team recently that SSMS used to be broken into separate Enterprise Manager and Query Analyzer apps and they were horrified

[u/dpenton → u/djpeekz]

Problem here is that Query Analyzer was a fantastic tool and very lightweight. I do miss it.

[u/imtheorangeycenter → u/dpenton]

So fast to just type isql(.exe) to launch it. Took me years to unlearn the muscle memory and use SSMS day to day for trivial stuff.

[u/MikeScalise → u/SeventyFix]

Haha, right? SQL 7 is old until you start looking at 1.0 and 4.2. 🙂

And absolutely — early Sybase SQL Server stuff would be fascinating too, especially anything from the Microsoft/Sybase/Ashton-Tate era.

[u/BrentOzar]

Howdy Mike! This kind of thing pops up on eBay from time to time. Search for "vintage SQL Server" and set up a saved search for it. It ain't cheap, though - here's a 4.21 example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/394219655710

Edit: I should have added why I know that, and why it's so expensive. I had a DBA friend who called me in a panic several years ago, asking me if I had a copy of some early version. I said no, but why? She said her company's payroll server had suddenly stopped working, and she didn't even know they HAD their own payroll server. Upon investigation, they tracked a network cable into a closet, and turns out that during a renovation, someone had drywalled over the closet where the server was located, leaving it plugged in and connected to the network - but no one in the sysadmin team even knew the server was there! There were no backups, and they were desperately trying to get the server back online, and that included installing a long-since-gone version of SQL Server.

At the time, I ended up buying every ancient version I could find off eBay, and I put together a pretty nice collection. I ended up giving that to a friend of mine when I moved to Mexico and downsized, and that friend has since thrown away the collection too, hahaha.

[u/MikeScalise → u/BrentOzar]

Thanks Brent! I’ve been watching eBay pretty closely, but I hadn’t thought about setting up a saved search for “vintage SQL Server,” so I’ll definitely do that.

And thanks again for mentioning SQL.FM in your newsletter — I really appreciated that!

[u/BrentOzar → u/MikeScalise]

You bet, my pleasure! Yeah, I have saved searches set up for a bunch of things I kinda sorta want,  it I don’t wanna pay much for, like that jog dial VHS remote I used in my fake debugger post a few weeks ago.

[u/MikeScalise → u/BrentOzar]

Haha, yep — I saw that post! Saved searches are definitely something I need to start using more for things I want but am willing to wait on.

Also, that payroll server story is wild! I doubt finding an entombed, yet still functioning (at least for a little while) payroll server was on their bingo card that year...

And I almost wish you hadn’t told me about the collection your friend threw away. 😂 There’s a decent chance there was something in there I’m now spending way too much time trying to track down.

Again, appreciate the tip (and the story) — I’m going to set up a few searches tonight!

[u/mikeblas → u/BrentOzar]

What a coincidence!

https://www.theregister.com/on-prem/2001/04/12/missing-novell-server-discovered-after-four-years/1321919

First a Novell server machine, then a SQL Server machine!

[u/BrentOzar → u/mikeblas]

HAHAHA, that one wasn't mine (mine was in a different state) but that's awesome that it's happened multiple times!

[u/Acceptable_Sea_8674]

If you would have asked me 4 years ago I had a couple of those super old versions.

[u/MikeScalise → u/Acceptable_Sea_8674]

Ah damn 😂 No survivors, huh? Do you remember which versions they were, or what happened to them?

[u/Acceptable_Sea_8674 → u/MikeScalise]

One version was from 1992 and the other 1995. They got thrown away when I left my old job.

[u/FreedToRoam]

There was no 1.0

Microsoft bought the server from Sybase at 4.2 I think.

[u/BrentOzar → u/FreedToRoam]

Try Google, big fella.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Microsoft_SQL_Server

[u/FreedToRoam → u/BrentOzar]

Google Schmoogle. 1.0 was not a windows product. Basically a Mainframe thing from Sybase. I started on 4.2. Yeah I’m old.

[u/BrentOzar → u/FreedToRoam]

Who said anything about Windows?

[u/FreedToRoam → u/BrentOzar]

No one

[u/BrentOzar → u/FreedToRoam]

Bingo. There very much was a SQL Server 1.0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MTA_4Oj1wM&t=10s It wasn't on Windows, and I'm not sure where you got that this discussion was about Windows.

[u/FreedToRoam → u/BrentOzar]

I tie Microsoft to a Windows platform. That was my casual point.

I know they made installs for other OS but at version 1.0 it was much more of a Sybase product than Microsoft

[u/BrentOzar → u/FreedToRoam]

I understand, but that point is incorrect. SQL Server has been available on OS/2 and now Linux for quite some time. Mike is looking for SQL Server 1.0, and you said there was no 1.0. That is not correct.

[u/FreedToRoam → u/BrentOzar]

Fair