question about instances (what is an instance)

I have 1 SQL 2000 Standard Edition (SP3) server running on Windows 2000 SP4.
I have to install a new application which will reside on this sql server. Th
e
installation tells me to "Stop" all SQl instances.
My question is this: Is the instance the "MSSQLServer" service running on
this server?
If I understand "instances" right, then it is the O/S and the SQL Server
itself which makes up the instance. Does this mean I currently have 1
instance of SQL running?
Thanks for any help and info on this matter.Hi
IF you check out the topic "Working with Named and Multiple Instances of SQL
Server 2000" you will see you can have a default or a named instance of SQL
Server running on the same machine.
This default instance is identified by the network name of the computer on
which it is running. A named instance is identified by the network name of
the computer plus an instance name, in the format
<computername>\<instancename>.
For the service names a default instance will have the name MSSQLServer and
a named instance wll have a service name of MSSQL$InstanceName.
John
"carl" wrote:

> I have 1 SQL 2000 Standard Edition (SP3) server running on Windows 2000 SP
4.
> I have to install a new application which will reside on this sql server.
The
> installation tells me to "Stop" all SQl instances.
> My question is this: Is the instance the "MSSQLServer" service running on
> this server?
> If I understand "instances" right, then it is the O/S and the SQL Server
> itself which makes up the instance. Does this mean I currently have 1
> instance of SQL running?
> Thanks for any help and info on this matter.
>|||An instance is one installation of the SQL Server program files onto an O/S.
You can have up to 16 instances of SQL 2000 per machine (1 default and 15
named instances, or 16 named instances).
Each has its own section of the registry and file system. There may be some
shared files but I can't swear to it.
Each will use up its own specified amount of memory as well, so multiple
instances per box may or may not be a good idea, deoending on your hardware.
Kevin Hill
President
3NF Consulting
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"carl" <carl@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6F1D3CE3-305B-4430-928E-327D8037C05D@.microsoft.com...
>I have 1 SQL 2000 Standard Edition (SP3) server running on Windows 2000
>SP4.
> I have to install a new application which will reside on this sql server.
> The
> installation tells me to "Stop" all SQl instances.
> My question is this: Is the instance the "MSSQLServer" service running on
> this server?
> If I understand "instances" right, then it is the O/S and the SQL Server
> itself which makes up the instance. Does this mean I currently have 1
> instance of SQL running?
> Thanks for any help and info on this matter.
>