Upgrading to Windows Server 2008 was simple. Moving our application code from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 was absolutely seamless. We made no coding changes at all. Everything just worked.

One of our big reasons for moving to SQL Server 2008 so early was its scaling factor. We can handle enterprise customers, and we don’t see a limit to our ability to scale.

Looking at the efficiencies and time savings we’ll be gaining, the [SQL Server 2008] Policy-Based Management has an enormous potential for cost savings.

The Report Builder feature of [SQL Server 2008] Reporting Services simplifies report creation and will enable our users to create their own custom reports and ad hoc queries, while Reporting Services optimizes how they are run against the database.

Migrating to [SQL Server 2008] Reporting Services makes it easier for organizations to take advantage of the rest of the Microsoft Application Platform.

LINQ really takes data querying to the next level. ... We think this feature offers a huge boost in developer productivity and code maintainability.

In my view, SQL Server 2008 is a big winner for us in all three of these areas. The Microsoft Application Platform is truly a key strategic advantage for ServiceU.

The proof of concept testing verified that using SQL Server 2008 we can gain the same performance with historical data as we would expect to see with the real-time data that is streamed from cars racing around the track.

The essence of the problem we faced was how to deal effectively with a high volume of time series data. Prior to SQL Server 2008, this was not something that we felt any database could really handle properly.

We’ve seen tables reduced in size by 80 percent using SQL Server 2008 Backup Compression. With 100 terabytes of data, we’re very happy to be able to reduce our backup footprint.

SQL Server 2008 replication proved to be very predictable and reliable in our testing. This helps us to create flexible and scalable replication solutions. Reliability must be at the foundation of all that we do.

We’re using the SQL Server 2008 Policy-based Management right now to enforce our existing naming conventions and other best practices to bring about much needed standardization throughout our operations.

To support the racing teams we need three things from a database: performance, integrity, and robustness. If you can find all three, you’ve got a winner. SQL Server 2008 wins on all three points.