Contoso Sample Database

I recently went looking for the SQL Server 2008 sample databases for the fictional Contoso company and was surprised to see that Google had trouble finding it. So here goes – this is for anyone else trying to find the Contoso sample databases for SQL Server 2008 R2, Reporting Services, Analysis Services, Excel 2010, SharePoint 2010, and PowerPivot (whew!).

There are two “things” you can download:

• Just the sample databases (both a SQL Server relational database and an SSAS database)
• A set of PowerPivot reports and small subset of Contoso database for use within Excel 2010 and SharePoint 2010

Here are the links:

• Sample SQL and SSAS databases only: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=868662dc-187a-4a85-b611-b7df7dc909fc
• PowerPivot reports: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=fa8175d0-157f-4e45-8053-6f5bb7eb6397

You might also want to review my SQL Server 2008/R2 Analysis Services training videos. I have a bunch of PowerPivot video tutorials as well as how to integrate PowerPivot with SharePoint 2010 tutorials.