Facing ever-stiffer competition in the database price wars, Microsoft Corp. is introducing an edition of its upcoming SQL Server 2005 upgrade that will provide an easier step between free and not free than it now does with SQL Server 2000.

(At the time of this writing) Microsoft plans to announce SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition, a product that sits between the free MSDE (Microsoft Database Engine, or what will be known as Express in the 2005 release) and SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition.

SQL Server 2005 Standard, once the entry point for businesses to buy SQL Server at the enterprise data management level, will cost $5,999 per processor or $2,799 per server plus 10 users. In contrast, Workgroup Edition will cost $3,899 per processor or $739 for the server plus five users, thus offering a considerably lower entry point for SMBs (small and midsize businesses).

In addition, SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition will cost $24,999 per processor or $13,499 for the server plus 25 users.

[Microsoft Pitches New Low-Cost, Entry-Level Database Edition, continued]