Although monetdbd is only available in Unix systems, it is still possible to use MonetDB on Windows.
On Windows systems, the first step is to initialize a MonetDB server by simply opening: 'Start -> Programs -> MonetDB -> Start server'.
Subsequently you can start the textual interface (_mclient)_by opening: 'Start -> Programs -> MonetDB -> SQL client'. The commands entered there are identical to those found on other platforms. To stop the server, you can simply close the MonetDB SQL Server window.
Note the server by default only accepts connections originating from the local host. If you need other machines to access your database, change the configuration file by setting mapi_open=yes.
Exploring the wealth of functionality offered by MonetDB/SQL is best started using a toy database. For this we use the VOC database which provides a peephole view into the administrative system of an early multi-national company, the VOC (or Dutch East India Company).
Download the VOC dataset voc_dump.zip (542K) gz (519K) bz2 (371K) which is a compressed file with SQL statements (SQL database dump). After the file has been extracted, load its contents into MonetDB using the mclient.exe file. From within mclient run:
sql> \< voc_dump.sql
Since the SQL interface is the same on all platforms, from here on you can follow the later part of the regular SQL tutorial.
If you need (or want) to change the location of the database then editing of the monetdb script is required. Change the mclient.bat and M5server.bat files in 'C:\Program Files\MonetDB\MonetDB5'. In the M5server.bat file you would need to change the setting of the MONETDBFARM variable, and in mclient.bat you would need to add a -d option to the call of mclient.exe. Note: you upgrade such changed files will be overwritten.
The data for the tutorial is published in the book J.R. Bruijn, F.S. Gaastra and I. Schaar_Dutch-Asiatic Shipping in the 17th and 18th Centuries_, which gives an account of the trips made to the East and ships returned safely (or wrecked on the way) by the VOC (or Dutch East India Company). A total of 8000 records are provided. They include information about ship name and type, captain, the arrival/departure of harbors along the route, personnel accounts, and anecdotal information. You can find more about the VOC on Wikipedia.