[teddyuk]

I would use them just to save the whole setup/install thing.

When sql releases were every 2-3 years you would upgrade the hardware at the same time, annually/semi-annually? Less likely.

Being able to change up a version within minutes is a significant improvement over the whole msi install thing even if you did script it.

[james_anderson]

Yeah, I like the idea of treating SQL Server like it's just a process and not the entire server.

Are you planning to do that in production?

[teddyuk]

when i can, won't likely be soon though :(