High availability

• Benefit from log shipping, which helps automatically back up data on separate servers or keep multiple-read servers online to better handle large amounts of web traffic. Keep multiple nodes in sync by using this low-cost edition along with SQL Server 2012 Enterprise instances through one-way merge and transactional replication. New Database Recovery Advisor helps administrators create a more predictable and optimal restore sequence.

Scalability

• Support multi-tenancy and customers with growing data needs through database sizes support up to 524 PB. Maximize resources with support for up to 64 nodes in a cluster, 640 logical processors, and 4 TB of RAM.

Task and policy automation

• Ensure standards and compliance across environments with Policy-Based Management, User-Defined Roles, and Contained Databases. Take advantage of SQL Server Agent to reduce the amount of time spent on administrative tasks by scheduling and executing events such as server backups.

Low monthly cost through Microsoft's Service Provider License Agreement (SPLA)

• Web is licensed only through SPLA, which requires no upfront costs or volume license commitments. You pay only for what you used in the previous month; you have access to the latest versions of software, and you can sell your services worldwide.

Streamlined administration

• Manage database environments proactively and efficiently at scale. By using management capabilities, get a better view into resource usage and streamline consolidation and deployment facilities across the application cycle.

New Development tools

• New SQL Server Data Tools unifies development with a single environment for database development across Database, BI, and web and supports SQL Server and SQL Azure. Use Microsoft .NET integration support to quickly write, extend, and publish programs for the web.
• Meet a variety of customer needs with advanced data-type support. Query in native syntax language, such as LINQ. Use Microsoft ADO.NET Data Services support to expose data through web services by using existing tools and processes.

Support for greater interoperability

• Extend heterogeneous environments by connecting to SQL Server and SQL Database applications using any industry standard APIs (ADO.NET, ODBC, JDBC, PDO, and ADO) across varied platforms including .NET, C/C++, Java, Linux, PHP, and Hadoop.

Complex Event Processing

• Derive critical information from streaming data such as click-through rates. Monitor, analyze, and act on data in motion and make informed decisions in near real time by using StreamInsight in SQL Server.

Full-Text Search (FTS)

• Perform fast and flexible indexing for keyword-based queries across unstructured files. New Statistical Semantic search, built on FTS, discovers relationships across files based on statistical similarities, making it easy to build recommendation-based search functionality within applications.