SQL Server 2008 New Features

SQL Server 2008, Microsoft’s data platform of the future,includes a host of new features that IT professionals needto know about. Some of SQL Server 2008’s new featuresenhance its scalability, security, and productivity. Otherfeatures are designed to improve database administrationand provide better data accessibility for end users.Let’s explore ten of my favorite SQL Server 2008 features.

10. New data types—The DATE and TIME data types are two ofthe most overdue new features in SQL Server 2008. You canuse the DATE and TIME data types to split your date and timeinformation into separate and distinct columns in your database.SQL Server 2008 also includes a new FILESTREAM data type forlarge object data, as well as new GEOGRAPHY and GEOMETRYspatial data types for mapping applications.

9. T-SQL IntelliSense and debugging—Two features that wereoriginally supposed to be in SQL Server 2005 but didn’t makeit into that release are support for T-SQL IntelliSense anddebugging from within Query Editor. SQL Server 2008’s IntelliSenseprovides T-SQL syntax checking and database object prompting.The integrated debugging feature lets you set breakpoints; singlestep through T-SQL code; and view the Locals, Call Stack, and QuickWatch windows.

8. Microsoft Office 2007 integration—SQL Server 2008’senhanced integration with Office 2007 lets users create database-enabled reports directly from Microsoft Word 2007 orExcel 2007. These reports can then be published and shared withother users via Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 orWindows SharePoint Services.

7. Revamped SQL Server Reporting Services—SQL Server 2008Reporting Services (SSRS) provides significantly improvedreport rendering performance. In addition, SSRS’s ReportDesigner has been enhanced and Microsoft has provided improvedcharting components.

6. Filtered indexes—SQL Server 2008’s filtered index support letsyou more efficiently index columns containing sparse data.The filtered indexes functionality lets SQL Server 2008 indexesignore rows with no data and include only those rows in which thereare valid data values, which can improve access time for sparselypopulated indexes by an order of magnitude.

5. Transparent data encryption—Although previous versions ofSQL Server have offered cell-level encryption, using it requiredspecial application coding. SQL Server 2008’s transparent dataencryption (TDE) lets you encrypt one or more databases withouthaving to make changes to the application code.

4. Database and backup compression—SQL Server 2008 supportstwo levels of lossless data compression: table-leveland database-level. Although there’s some additional CPUoverhead when you use compression, the reduced I/O can speedup queries and reduce backup times.

3. Change data capture—This feature can quickly show a measurableROI for your SQL Server 2008 migrations. Many datawarehousing and distributed data scenarios require customcoding to capture daily changes and send those changes to one ormore target systems. Change data capture (CDC) can automaticallycapture all database changes, letting you keep your distributed systemsup-to-date without having to perform custom coding.

2. Policy-Based Management—Policy-Based Management letsDBAs create server and database policies that facilitate thecentral management of multiple remote SQL Server systemsand enforce the use of corporate standards. For example, DBAscould create policies that enforce the use of standard database objectnaming conventions across your organization.

1. Resource Governor—Arguably the most important new featurein SQL Server from an enterprise standpoint, SQL Server2008’s Resource Governor lets DBAs control server resourceutilization for different types of workloads. For example, the ResourceGovernor can prevent poorly constructed user-created queries fromadversely affecting the overall performance of the server by limitingthe CPU and memory resources allocated to those queries.