In a Standard Edition model though the SQL databases are all stored locally on the Front End server and thus a time may come when the databases stored on the local SQL Express instances may need to be viewed, queried or even modified directly (recommended only by experts or under the guidance of Microsoft support in specific cases). Also understand that in many environments the SQL servers are already deployed and managed by separate resources and so the Skype for Business administrators may not even have that level of database access to the SQL servers. In an Enterprise Edition server deployment a separate backend SQL Server is utilized which already includes these management tools. Usage of this tool throughout this and any future article is strictly for educational purposes. Take note that this is unsupported and not typically performed in Skype for Business deployments. This article shows how to install SQL management tools on a Standard Edition Skype for Business Server. Luckily it is relatively simple to install the missing SQL management tools directly on the Standard Edition Front End server. This means that by default there is no simple way to view or manage the SQL Express databases out of the box. One of the major differences in deploying a Standard Edition server in Skype for Business as opposed to an Enterprise Edition server is that the Standard Edition Front End server utilizes SQL Express instead of a full SQL Server installation.

Database requirements for skype