AdventureWorks databases from Microsoft are the most popular sample databases for developers, database administrators, or simply for students looking to learn something about SQL Server and database management.
In this article, we will take a look at the available variants of Adventure Works databases, but more importantly, I want to highlight the possibility of connecting to the database online without the need to download files.
Requirements: You will need SQL Server (database engine) or Azure and SQL Server Management Studio or Azure Data Studio.
Types and Versions of AdventureWorks Databases
Adventure Works databases come in two main versions – link to Microsoft documentation and download links:
- Adventure Works OLTP (Online Transaction Processing): This version of the database simulates common transactional operations found in relational databases. It includes tables for customers, orders, products, and other relational data. It is suitable for developing applications that need to store and manage transactional data.
- Adventure Works Data Warehouse: This version of the database is designed for analytical purposes. It contains a large amount of data suitable for data analysis and business intelligence. You can use it to create data warehouses and perform complex data analysis.
In addition to categorizing databases based on their purpose (application vs. data warehouse), there are also different versions available. Depending on your SQL Server version, you can choose the corresponding .bak file.
Adventure Works in Azure – Publicly and for Free
The classic installation is clear and is described in the documentation mentioned above. Simply download the .bak file and restore it to your SQL instance. However, there may be cases when you don’t want to go through this process.
In such cases, there are options to connect to an existing AdventureWorks instance hosted in Azure. One such option is provided by sqlservercentral.com. You can find the login credentials at the provided link.
