Search notes:

SQL Server versions

Version		nnn	Codename
	6.0	?	SQL95
	6.5	?	Hydra
	7.0	?	Sphinx
SQL Server 2000 (?)	8.0	?	Shiloh
SQL Server 2005	9.0	90	Yukon
SQL Server 2008	10.0	100	Katmai
SQL Server 2008 R2	10.5	?	Kilimanjaro
SQL Server 2012	11.x	110	Denali
SQL Server 2014	12.?	120	Hekaton
SQL Server 2016	13.x	130	?
SQL Server 2017	14.x	140	?
SQL Server 2019	?	?	?
SQL Server 2022	?	?	?

nnn identifies an SQL Server version in the directory structure and corresonds to version in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\nnn.

The value of nnn also appears in the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\nnn.

The (two digit) version number (11 for 2012 etc.) are needed in the (default) naming of the instance id.

See also

Determine SQL Server version with @@version.

The Database Experimentation Assistant (DEA) can be used to evaluate a given workload on a targeted SQL Server version, especially before upgrading.

The Data Migration assistant finds compatibility issues between two versions of SQL Server, also especially useful in upgrading scenarios.