SQL Server 2008 Data Types

Exact numerics

Type From To
bigint -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 9,223,372,036,854,775,807
int -2,147,483,648 2,147,483,647
smallint -32,768 32,767
tinyint 0 255
bit 0 1
decimal -10^38 +1 10^38 –1
numeric -10^38 +1 10^38 –1
money -922,337,203,685,477.5808 +922,337,203,685,477.5807
smallmoney -214,748.3648 +214,748.3647

numeric and decimal are Fixed precision and scale data types and are functionally equivalent.

Approximate numerics

Type From To
float -1.79E + 308 1.79E + 308
real -3.40E + 38 3.40E + 38

 

datetime and smalldatetime

Type From To
date Jan 1, 0001 Dec 31, 9999 (SQL Server 2008 only)
datetime (3.33 milliseconds accuracy) Jan 1, 1753 Dec 31, 9999
datetime2 0001-01-01 00:00:00.0000000 9999-12-31 23:59:59.9999999 (SQL Server 2008 only)
smalldatetime (1 minute accuracy) Jan 1, 1900 Jun 6, 2079
time (3,4,or 5 bytes depending on precision) time(1) 01:02:03.1000000 time(7) 01:02:03.1234567 (SQL Server 2008 only)

 

Character Strings

Type Description
char Fixed-length non-Unicode character data with a maximum length of 8,000 characters.
varchar Variable-length non-Unicode data with a maximum of 8,000 characters.
varchar(max) Variable-length non-Unicode data with a maximum length of 231 characters (SQL Server 2005 only).
text Variable-length non-Unicode data with a maximum length of 2,147,483,647 characters.

 

Unicode Character Strings

Type Description
nchar Fixed-length Unicode data with a maximum length of 4,000 characters.
nvarchar Variable-length Unicode data with a maximum length of 4,000 characters.
nvarchar(max) Variable-length Unicode data with a maximum length of 230 characters (SQL Server 2005 only).
ntext Variable-length Unicode data with a maximum length of 1,073,741,823 characters.

 

Binary Strings

Type Description
binary Fixed-length binary data with a maximum length of 8,000 bytes.
varbinary Variable-length binary data with a maximum length of 8,000 bytes.
varbinary(max) Variable-length binary data with a maximum length of 231 bytes (SQL Server 2005 only).
image Variable-length binary data with a maximum length of 2,147,483,647 bytes.

 

Other Data Types