New Features in SQL Server 2008

The release of SQL Server 2008, code-named Katmai, is around the corner. Scheduledfor 2008, it promises to add several important features to Microsoft's premierdatabase server. Some of these features Microsoft didn't have time to put inthe SQL Server 2005 release, while others are new. (Learn more about "SQL Server 2008's T-SQL Features" and SQL Server 2012.)

7. Enhanced Office Integration

SQL Server 2008's enhanced integration with Microsoft Office 2007 enables usersto create database-enabled reports directly from either Microsoft Office Word2007 or Excel 2007. These reports can then be published and shared by usingMicrosoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.

6. Language-Integrated Query

LINQ is Microsoft's latest application data-access technology. It enables VisualBasic and C# applications to use set-oriented queries that are developed inthe native language, rather than requiring that the queries be written in T-SQL.LINQ uses the native SqlClient to connect to SQL Server, and its development-timeconnection lets developers create strongly typed queries.

5. Transparent Failover

Database mirroring in SQL Server 2005 enables clients to automatically redirectto a mirrored server in the event of a failure in the principal database. However,it requires special client configuration to specify the mirror server. SQL Server2008 will allow clients to automatically fail over to a mirrored server withoutrequiring any manual configuration on the client.

4. Log Stream Compression

SQL Server 2008's new support for log stream compression enhances the performanceof database mirroring by automatically compressing the log stream that's sentbetween the database mirroring participants. This minimizes network bandwidthuse.

3. Data Compression

SQL Server 2008's data compression enables you to compress data stored in thedatabase. This reduces storage requirements and can actually improve the performanceof workloads that have high I/O requirements. SQL Server 2008 also supportscompressing backups.

2. FileStream Data

It's back—originally slated as part of SQL Server 2005, the new FileStreamobject allows large binary objects (LOBs) to be stored in the file system. Thesystem maintains links between the database object and the file system object,insuring they have transactional consistency similar to a native database objectyet providing the performance of native file system storage.

1. Ability to Hot-Add CPUs

SQL Server 2005 introduced the ability to hot-add memory, and SQL Server 2008extends this with the ability to hot-add CPUs on supported platforms with nodowntime, enhancing scalability. This ability will also be an important foundationfeature for the dynamic data center, as future virtualization support in theWindows Server 2008 R2 timeframe will support hot-adding for memory, CPU, andnetworking.