Microsoft SQL Server 2008 for Server Consolidation

Flexible, manageable, and scalable data services consolidation

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 reduces hardware and maintenance costs by providing a flexible server consolidation solution with enterprise-class manageability and performance.

Flexibility
Choose the data services consolidation solution that best suits your business.
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Manageability
Manage, monitor, secure and optimize consolidated data systems effectively.
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Predictable Scalability and Performance
Build enterprise-scale consolidated data solutions.
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Quentin Clark, General Manager, SQL Server Database Engine

Watch the video: SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Data Platform Vision

Flexibility
  • Consolidate servers with multiple databases and instances
    Use SQL Server 2008 to host multiple databases in a single server instance to centralize data storage and management. Run multiple instances of SQL Server 2008 on a single server to enable isolation of database applications while reducing hardware costs, licensing costs, and administrative overhead.
  • Consolidate data services through virtualization
    Run multiple virtual operating systems on the same physical computer by using Microsoft Virtual Server, with one or more instances of the required SQL Server 2008 services in each virtual machine.
  • Transfer and migrate databases and data easily
    Choose the right data transfer approach to consolidate data from a wide range of technologies in SQL Server 2008, including backup and restore, attach and detach, SQL Server Integration Services.
Manageability
  • Centralize management with SQL Server Management Studio
    Use a single, consistent management interface to manage multiple instances on a single server and multiple SQL Server instances on different virtual machines; manage instances of SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, and SQL Server 2008 in every edition.
  • Centralize auditing
    Configure auditing settings at the server and database levels on one server instance, and then deploy them to others. Consolidate enterprise-wide audit records from multiple sources such as SQL Server Analysis Services and Reporting Services.
  • Enforce configuration policy compliance across the enterprise
    Use the Declarative Management Framework to define configuration policies and apply them to servers, databases, tables, and other targets; thus consolidating configuration management by defining a policy once and reusing it across servers throughout the enterprise.
  • Simplify and consolidate enterprise encryption and key management
    Use third party cryptographic providers to simplify and consolidate encryption and key management across applications and services within your organization. Use Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) to provide centralized hardware- based encryption and key management.
Predictable Scalability and Performance
  • Control resource utilization
    Define resource limits and priorities for different workloads by using Resource Governor. Place limits on each workload on a consolidated server to prevent one workload from using excessive resources, and provide more predictable performance.
  • Scale up consolidated servers
    Improve concurrency by using the LOCK_ESCALATION setting on a table and benefit from better concurrency on partitioned tables. Reduce disk contention by splitting tables and indexes into partitions and accessing these partitions separately.
  • Manage system resources dynamically
    Take advantage of the hot-add capabilities of SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Edition to add memory and CPU resources to scale-up a server without having to stop database services.
  • Maximize storage with data compression
    Store your data more efficiently and significantly improve performance for large I/O bound workloads by using data compression.
  • Centralize and consolidate monitoring
    Use Performance Studio to troubleshoot, tune, and monitor the state of one or more instances of SQL Server 2008. Collect information from multiple sources, store the performance data centrally, and display all relevant troubleshooting information in one place using Reporting Services.
Take a closer look

Top new features
  • Centralize auditing with new comprehensive data auditing capabilities
  • Enforce policy compliance consistently across the enterprise with the Declarative Management Framework
  • Control workload resource prioritization with Resource Governor
  • Optimize storage with built-in data compression
  • Consolidate data services monitoring with Performance Studio