Take the 2-minute tour ×

I need a test database to practice joins and other kinds of data retrieval operations in SQL.

What's a good free test database and RDBMS system to use on Windows?

share|improve this question

6 Answers 6

up vote 3 down vote accepted

Every major RDBMS provider has some free edition. Those are full versions limited by database size and maximum memory usage.

Top players:

Then, there is number of open source products:

If this is not enough, check this Wikipedia article: Comparison of relational database management systems.
There's more than 50 RDBMS's listed and you'll probably find something that suits your needs.

share|improve this answer

SQL Server Express for one.

Sample databases (AdventureWorks) can be downloaded here.

share|improve this answer

You can use this link. The adventure works database is used as an example for numerous online and offline resources.

After which, download the SMSS Express to work on it.

share|improve this answer

If it's just for practising SQL you could install Access assuming you have an MS Office CD that includes it already.

Otherwise MySQL or SQL Server Express are probably your best bets.

share|improve this answer

I would recommend MySQL over SQL Server Express if your purpose is to practice SQL. The command line interface is all you need.

share|improve this answer

You can get online practice with verifying your queries on SQL Exercises

share|improve this answer

Your Answer


