Microsoft has announced the upcoming delivery of the November community technology preview (CTP) of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2. This was publicised by Ted Kummert, senior vice president of Business Platform Division, at the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) Community Summit.
Microsoft has also announced two new editions providing scalable solutions: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Datacenter and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Parallel Data Warehouse. It is delivering data warehouse appliances with multiple hardware partners, adding IBM as the newest partner.
According to the company, SQL Server 2008 R2 is the information platform that is designed to deliver Managed self-service business intelligence that expands powerful BI tools to all users with SQL Server PowerPivot for Excel; Greater IT and developer efficiency enables administrators to centrally monitor and manage multiple database applications, instances or servers, accelerating the development and deployment of applications and providing improved support for virtualisation through Hyper-V with Live Migration in Windows Server 2008 R2.
In addition, it also delivers a trusted and scalable platform to support data consistency across heterogeneous systems through SQL Server Master Data Services, enabling event-stream processing through SQL Server StreamInsight, and supporting scale-up scenarios for the largest available x64 and Itanium hardware.
Microsoft’s SQL Server R2 Datacenter is expected to deliver a high-performing information platform that provides scalability for large application workloads and managing an organisation’s database infrastructure. With support for up to 256 logical processors and unlimited virtualisation, SQL Server Datacenter and Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter provide a foundation on which to build enterprise-class services.
The company said that SQL Server 2008 R2 Parallel Data Warehouse extends its offering in data warehousing by providing scalability and performance from tens to hundreds of terabytes at a low total cost of ownership (TCO). SQL Server 2008 R2 Parallel Data Warehouse will be available on hardware from Bull, Dell, HP, EMC and IBM.
Microsoft is releasing Fast Track Data Warehouse version 2.0, with new configurations from IBM, and updated configurations from Bull, Dell and HP. The new version offers choice with up to 12 reference architectures based on both Intel- and AMD-based processors.
In addition, IBM will offer three Fast Track Data Warehouse reference configurations for the company’s Intel processor-based System x servers, and midrange storage disk offerings from IBM. EMC will offer new Data Warehouse and BI services for Fast Track in addition to storage infrastructure for Dell Fast Track Data Warehouse solutions.
SQL Server Fast Track Data Warehouse offers a transition to customers planning to make the leap to the massive scalability and BI capabilities of Microsoft SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse.
Carolyn Conti, manager of Decision Support Systems at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, said: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 is fundamentally helping to improve our relationship with our customers.
“Using SQL Server PowerPivot for Excel and SQL Server PowerPivot for SharePoint Server as an interface for managed self-service business intelligence (BI), we are modeling, analysing and pivoting millions of records, publishing the information in minutes, and allowing access for geographically remote office branches at a fraction of the time. Our business users can now create and modify their own reports to meet their immediate needs and better service the customer.
SQL Server 2008 R2 November CTP will be available for download in November.
