SQL Server in the Fast Lane

Since the release of SQL Server 7.0 in 1998, SQL Server has been on the enterprise fast track, steadily accumulating top TPC-C benchmark scores and increasing market share. Here are some exciting facts about SQL Server's growth.

7. SQL Server is the most popular Web database.

According to Zona Research, 68 percent of all Web applications use SQL Server databases. You can read the results of Zona Research's study in the Microsoft article "SQL Server Fast Facts" at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/evaluation/overview/2000/fastfacts.asp.

6. SQL Server is the most popular Windows database.

Surveys by the Gartner Group reveal that SQL Server holds 39 percent of the Windows database market. This calculation doesn't include copies of Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) that the company distributed with Microsoft Office and Microsoft Visual Studio. You can read the Gartner survey results at http://www.gartnergroup.com.

5. Microsoft's 2001 SQL Server revenues topped $1 billion.

Microsoft Vice President for SQL Server Gordon Mangione was the keynote speaker at this year's Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) conference in Denver. In his address, Mangione announced this SQL Server sales milestone.

4. Microsoft has sold more than 1 million SQL Server licenses.

At PASS, Mangione also shared SQL Server sales news. A 2001 Gartner Dataquest study found that sales of SQL Server licenses increased by 45 percent from 1999 to 2000, making SQL Server the fastest growing database platform on the market. You can read the Gartner Dataquest study at http://www.gartnergroup.com.

3. SQL Server is the most cost-effective database platform.

SQL Server holds all of the top 40 TPC-C Non-Clustered Price/Performance rankings, proving that it delivers the most bang for the buck of any competing database platform. You can review the price/performance results on the Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC) Web site at http://www.tpc.org.

2. SQL Server is the fastest Windows database.

Running on Windows 2000 Datacenter Server using Unisys ES7000 hardware, SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition posted the seventh fastest TPC-C score for non-clustered systems and the fastest score for a Windows-based system. You can see the results for Non-Clustered TPC-C by Performance on the TPC Web site at http://www.tpc.org.

1. SQL Server is the fastest clustered database solution.

SQL Server's shared-nothing architecture is the most scalable design for high-end clustered database performance. SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition running on Windows 2000 Advanced Server using a Compaq ProLiant cluster holds the highest recorded TPC-C score (709,220 tpmC). This score is recorded on the TPC Web site's Clustered TPC-C by Performance page at http://www.tpc.org.