I have a free key for SQL server through my school and was interested to know what is it used for?
It's microsofts implementation of a relational database server. It's just a fancy way to store and query data. Typically used for things like Online transaction processing (accepting credit cards) or Internet shopping carts.
Though I wouldn't use it for either,those are some examples.
Fyi database adinistration averages the highest payed jobs in I.T. typically larger companies use Oracle, and Internet companies use mySQL as their SQL servers.
But it wouldn't hurt learning fundamentals with SQL server if that interests you.
It sounds interesting. I am more of a hobbyist user and am going to return to learning programming and such for a while. In the future I hope to be able to run my own server and just have more knowledge about the vast world known as computing.
If you have any suggestions of where to start please let me know.
PostgreSQL is a powerful, free, open-source SQL server that could potentially be more advantageous to learn as a hobbyist.
Interestingly, the homepage features a testimonial from Skype. A (huge) Microsoft product, and it uses PostgreSQL. Heh :)