My new development pc is arriving tomorrow and I am assembling the software suite I will be installing on it.
Sadly SQL server is still a requirement, and I am installing the Sql 2012 Standard, as the Developer Version is a special version of the Sql Server Enterprise, which can be uncompatible in some cases.
So the question is:
How do I install SQL Server on a development pc in a whay that leaves minimal footprint on the computer, while still giving a fully usable environment for development?
The very minimum is to select Database Engine only during setup. If you use a the command line, select only SQLEngine feature. If you use the GUI setup, select only the Database Engine from the feature selection page. By installing Database Engine feature only you get the sqlservr.exe service,sqlcmd and bcp tools, network and service configuration applets… and not much else.
If you need other features, like SQL Server Management Studio, make sure you select those as well. Ditto for Replication, Fulltext, tools (eg. Profiler) etc etc.