SQL Server 2014 Express is the next version of Microsoft's database server in a special, fully free version, extended with advanced tools. The Express version is designed for the least demanding environments, although its capabilities do not preclude its use in serious projects. The most important limitations compared to the paid versions are support for only 1 processor or 4 cores and a maximum of 1 GB of RAM.

The size of one database is also limited to 10 GB. In addition, however, the server supports most of the most popular functions, including full-text search (also in Polish) and partially replication, as a subscriber. In addition to the database engine, the installation package contains Management Studio software for managing SQL Server servers (not only the Express version).

Most of the most interesting novelties introduced with the 2014 version, unfortunately, reveal themselves only in the richest, paid editions of the server. Some of them, however, were also included in the free edition of Express. For example, there is the delayed durability function, which allows you to delay the recording of transactions on the disk by communicating to the application that the log has been saved - a compromise between performance and the guarantee of data integrity.

In addition, a number of improvements have been made to the database engine itself, such as those related to cardinality calculation and statistics generation.