SQL Server 2008
Last week saw the release of the latest preview of SQL Server 2008 (see Fresh section above). There was a lot of demand for this build as it contains more functionality than earlier previews (with more still to come). If you work with SQL Server then now would be a great time to start looking at the new enhancements that are coming with 2008. My recommendation would be to download the preview, install it into a Virtual PC and start to experiment.
I’ve tried to list in
bold below some of the things you might want to search Books Online for in the November CTP.
Data Types
- Dates/Times/TimeZones – look for the new
date,
time,
datetime2 and
datetimeoffset datatypes.
- Hierarchies – look for the new
hierarchyid type and its associated methods.
- Filestream – look for the new
varbinary(max) filestream type that presents both a relational and a file system view of a stored file.
- Spatial – look for the new
geometry and
geography data types for working with spatial data.
- XML and CLR - XML gets
better schema support and CLR data types get
bigger and can deal with
multi-input aggregates.
Programmability
-
Table valued parameters allow you to pass a whole table of data into a stored procedure from ADO.NET (.NET V3.5).
- Client-side support for the new SQL data types is in .NET V3.5.
- In the same timeframe as SQL Server 2008, the ADO.NET
Entity Framework will deliver a flexible, provider-based object-relational mapping layer.
Tooling Enhancements
- There are quite a lot of things to mention here but the most obvious one is the
IntelliSense that you now get in SQL Server Management Studio along with the
"errors window" that provides feedback on your scripts.
Getting Data In & Information Out of SQL Server
- SQL Server Integration Services – some serious
scalability improvements here, scripting via
Visual Studio Tools for Applications, modifications to the
lookup transformation, statistics from the new
data profiling task.
- SQL Server Reporting Services – reliance on
IIS has gone, new
report design surface, the new
tablix.
- Track changes to your data with
change tracking,
change data capture and make use of those changes with the new
MERGE statement.
Core Database Capabilities
- Predictable, manageable performance via the
resource governor.
- More options to control stored procedure execution via
guide plans.
- Better mechanisms to track
dependencies between database objects.
- Transparent
encryption of data.
- New mechanisms for capturing events (
extended events) and metrics (
data collector).
-
Policy based management for SQL Server(s).
That should keep you busy until the next CTP arrives! Also don't forget to
read the whitepapers on SQL Server 2008 functionality.
Mike Taulty
Read Mike's blog
