Will Windows Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2008 R2 Express run on Celeron 1.2GHz?

Question

I have small dedicated server (Celeron 1.2GHz, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD) running currently on Gentoo Linux + MySQL. I'd like to migrate to Windows Server with SQL Server Express.

I know my machine is below minimum requirements (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143506.aspx#SSE_x64) but my question is: will it ever run? I don't mind if it will be slow. The traffic will be minimal for SQL Server (1-2 users at a time).

Answer 1

Windows Server 2008 R2 is a 64-bit-only operating system. Your processor has to be x64.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/system-requirements.aspx

Your processor seems like a 2001-era design, which would not have x64 instruction set required to operate Windows Server 2008 R2. Celeron was refreshed with 64-bit capabilities around 2005.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celeron

UPDATE

As you have reported your processor model is the Celeron 220, it is an more modern version with the required Intel64 support. You may be able to install Windows 2008 R2 then. Notice I state may because the minimum speed is actually 1.4GHz; yours is 1.2GHz. The installer might have logic to throttle the processor and halt further installation if it is too slow. However I am inclined to think the likelihood of such a blockage existing is low.

Answer 2

See the system requirements for SQL Server 2008 R2 Express here:

http://www.microsoft.com/express/support/SQLServerExpress.aspx

(bottom of the page)

Supported Operating Systems

* Windows® Server 2003 Service Pack 2
* Windows® Server 2008
* Windows® Vista
* Windows® Server 2008 R2
* Windows® 7
* Windows® Vista Service Pack 1
* Windows® XP Service Pack 2
* Windows® XP Service Pack 3

Physical Limitations

* 32-Bit Systems: Computer with Intel or compatible 1GHz or faster
  processor (2 GHz or faster is recommended. 
  Only a single processor is supported.)
* 64-Bit systems: Computer with Intel or compatible 1.4 GHz or higher
  processor (2 GHz or faster is recommended. 
  Only a single processor is supported.)
* Minimum of 512 MB of RAM (1 GB or more is recommended)
* 1.9GB of free hard disk space