How many instances does a server have?

Can a server have multiple instances?

You can create more than one server instance on your system. Each server instance has its own instance directory, and database and log directories. Multiply the memory and other system requirements for one server by the number of instances planned for the system.

What is an instance of a server?

An instance is a single copy of the software running on a single physical or virtual server. If you run two copies of the software on the same physical or virtual server, that counts as two instances.

Are Servers and instances the same?

A server is a (physical or virtual) machine hosting SQL Server software. An instance is a collection of SQL Server databases run by a single SQL Server service, ahem, instance. You can view each separate instance you're running in your service console. Each instance can be started or stopped individually.

How many instances are available in SQL?

You can install as many as 50 SQL Server instances on a Windows Server; obviously, we do not recommend this. In a Windows failover cluster, the maximum number of SQL Server instances is reduced by half if you're using shared cluster drives. Only one of the SQL Server instances on a server can be the default instance.