SQL Server 2008: Automated tools to manage and secure data
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 delivers improvements in security, policy management, performance monitoring, and data compression.
In summary:
| • | Transparent encryption and flexible auditing are two of many security enhancements in SQL Server 2008. |
| • | The new database management software also applies standard administrative policies to groups of servers or databases. |
| • | Resource Governor is a new feature that helps improve scalability. |
Widespread access to computers and the Internet—along with the growing popularity of digital audio, video, and photography—have produced unprecedented volumes of electronic data. In 2006 alone, businesses and consumers worldwide generated 161 billion gigabytes of electronic information, or about 3 million times the data in every book ever written, according to the Framingham, Massachusetts–based analyst firm, IDC. If that's hard to imagine, consider that this figure will reach a staggering 988 billion gigabytes by 2010, IDC predicts.
How to secure and manage all of that data will be a major challenge for administrators everywhere. Scheduled for release in the second quarter of 2008, Microsoft SQL Server 2008, the next version of the Microsoft database product, includes several new features designed to help organizations more easily address information management.
Security and auditing
 | For the first time, you'll be able to configure [databases] so that critical processes have the resources they need to support high-priority business functions. |  | | David Portas
Conchango plc, London
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Though Microsoft SQL Server 2005 offers encryption capabilities, they require custom coding. SQL Server 2008 comes with transparent data encryption (TDE) functionality that automatically encrypts and decrypts data as it's needed, without special programming. Additionally, SQL Server 2008 integrates with third-party key management and cryptographic products, which allows organizations to apply the same encryption keys to their databases that they use elsewhere on their network.
It's important not to overuse TDE. Though TDE consumes system resources sparingly, it does reduce the processing power that is available for other tasks. Therefore, encrypt only the data that really needs it.
Stronger auditing capabilities are also new in SQL Server 2008. Government privacy regulations often require organizations to maintain detailed records on who modified data and what changed. Though SQL Server 2005 includes auditing functionality, SQL Server 2008 is more flexible because you can audit both specific databases and entire servers. It also provides centralized consoles to configure audit settings on multiple servers at once and to view audit data from across your organization.
SQL Server 2008 builds on existing access controls in SQL Server 2005. That way, you can limit the most comprehensive permissions to people who really need them.
Automated data management saves time
To ease data management, SQL Server 2008 includes the new Declarative Management Framework (DMF) that enables IT managers to define standard administration and configuration policies. The DMF automatically checks for compliance with your policies in areas such as access permissions and table naming conventions, and can even enforce policies automatically if it identifies a violation. You can also use the DMF to create maintenance plans—through a wizard—that automatically execute recurring tasks, such as backing up transaction logs and rebuilding indexes.
Significantly, the DMF allows you to apply policies either to individual servers and databases or to groups of them that you define. For example, you can create one set of policies for servers at company headquarters and different policies for servers at your branch offices. This makes it easier for organizations to manage multiple SQL Servers at once. And, because servers automatically inherit configuration settings when you assign them to a group, the DMF saves you time when you need to deploy new hardware.
Here are additional management features in SQL Server 2008 that might enable you to actually take time to eat lunch.
| • | Management Studio. This graphical administration console can execute a wide variety of administrative tasks, including policy creation and management that formerly required separate tools. |
| • | Performance Studio. A new administrative console, Performance Studio helps you monitor the speed and efficiency of your databases more effectively. SQL Server 2005 includes a Performance Dashboard that displays real-time performance data, but Performance Studio also lets you collect those figures from multiple databases and store them in a central repository. This enables you to compare current and past performance. It also delivers data you can use to troubleshoot performance problems. Additionally, Performance Studio lets you track custom performance metrics of your own design and provides an extensive set of prebuilt reports. |
| • | Resource Governor. This feature helps you to prioritize workloads and distribute processing power strategically among multiple applications. For example, you can establish resource allocation rules that ensure your enterprise resource planning (ERP) system remains fast and responsive even when activity on less important systems increases. "For the first time, you'll be able to configure [databases] so that critical processes have the resources they need to support [high-priority] business functions," says David Portas, a senior technical consultant at the London-based Microsoft Gold Certified solution provider, Conchango plc. |
| • | New data compression functionality. SQL Server 2008 helps you store more data on your hard drives, which means you'll spend less on storage systems. That same feature also reduces the number of disk reads your databases must perform—which can degrade performance—by incorporating more data into system memory. |
| • | Multimedia data management. SQL Server 2008 also includes enhanced support for digital media and other popular data formats to help find, secure, and back up such files faster. |
More information about SQL Server 2008, including a product overview and a variety of helpful white papers, is available on the SQL Server Web site. Get started with your first test deployment, and register for the latest Community Technology Preview.
 | Rich Freeman is a Seattle, Washington-based freelance writer specializing in business and technology. He has more than 14 years of strategic marketing and communications experience in the IT industry. |
