Top 30 Features of SQL Server 2005
Published: November 7, 2005
Discover how SQL Server 2005 will benefit you with the new and enhanced abilities and features
described on this page.
On This Page
Top 10 Features for Database Administration
Top 10 Features for Development
Top 10 Features for Business Intelligence
Top 10 Features for Database Administration
Feature
Description
Database
Extend log shipping capabilities with the database mirroring solution. You will
Mirroring
be able to use database mirroring to enhance availability of your SQL Server
systems by setting up automatic failover to a standby server.
Online Restore
With SQL Server 2005, database administrators are able to perform a restore
operation while an instance of SQL Server is running. Online restore improves
the availability of SQL Server because only the data being restored is
unavailable; the rest of the database remains online and available.
Online
The online index option allows concurrent modifications (updates, deletes,
Indexing
and inserts) to the underlying table or clustered index data and any
Operations
associated indexes during index data definition language (DDL) execution. For
example, while a clustered index is being rebuilt, you can continue to make
updates to the underlying data and perform queries against the data.
Fast Recovery
A new faster recovery option improves availability of SQL Server databases.
Administrators can reconnect to a recovering database after the transaction
log has been rolled forward.
Standards-
Any object, data source, or business intelligence component can be exposed
based
using standards-based protocols such as SOAP and HTTPeliminating the
Information
need for a middle-tier listener, such as IIS, to access a Web services interface
Access
that is exposed by SQL Server 2005.
SQL Server
SQL Server 2005 includes SQL Server Management Studio, a new integrated
Management
suite of management tools with the functionality to develop, deploy, and
Studio
troubleshoot SQL Server databases, as well as enhancements to previous
functionality.
Dedicated
SQL Server 2005 provides a dedicated administrator connection that
Administrator
administrators can use to access a running server even if the server is locked
Connection
or otherwise unavailable. This capability enables administrators to
troubleshoot problems on a server by executing diagnostic functions or
Transact-SQL statements.
Feature
Description
Snapshot
Snapshot Isolation (SI) level is provided at the database level. With SI, users
Isolation
can access the last committed row using a transitionally consistent view of
the database. This capability provides greater scalability.
Data
Data partitioning is enhanced with native table and index partitioning that
Partitioning
enables efficient manageability of large tables and indexes.
Replication
For distributed databases, SQL Server 2005 provides comprehensive schema
Enhancements
change (DDL) replication, next-generation monitoring capabilities, built in
replication from Oracle to SQL Server, merge replication over https, and
significant merge replication scalability and performance improvements.
Additionally, the peer-to-peer transactional replication feature improves
support for data scale out using replication.
Top of page
Top 10 Features for Development
Feature
Description
Hosted
With SQL Server 2005 developers can create database objects using
CommonLanguage familiar languages such as Microsoft Visual C# .NET and Microsoft Visual
Runtime
Basic .NET. Developers can also create two new objectsuser-defined
types and aggregates.
Native XML
Native XML data can be stored, queried, and indexed in a SQL Server
Support
databaseallowing developers to build new classes of connected
applications around Web services and across any platform or device.
ADO.NET version
From new support for SQL Types to Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS),
2.0
ADO.NET in SQL Server 2005 evolves dataset access and manipulation to
achieve greater scalability and flexibility.
Security
The security model in SQL Server 2005 separate users from objects,
Enhancements
provides fine-grain access, and enables greater control of data access.
Additionally, all system tables are implemented as views, providing more
control over database system objects.
Transact-SQL
SQL Server 2005 provides new language capabilities for developing
Enhancements
scalable database applications. These enhancements include error
handling, recursive query capabilities, relational operator PIVOT, APPLY,
ROW_NUMBER and other row ranking functions, and more.
Reliable
Service Broker is a robust messaging infrastructure that provides reliable
Messaging for
transactional delivery of critical messages between serverswith the
Asynchronous
scalable high-performance that is expected with asynchronous queuing.
Applications
Visual Studio
Tight integration with Microsoft Visual Studio and the .NET Framework
Integration
streamlines development and debugging of data-driven applications.
Developers can build database objects, such as stored procedures, using
any .NET language and can seamlessly debug across .NET and Transact-
Feature
Description
SQL (TSQL) languages.
Web Services
With SQL Server 2005 developers can develop Web services in the
database tier, making SQL Server a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)
listener and providing a new type of data access capability for Web
services-centric applications.
Embedded
Use client-side reporting controls to embed real-time reports into an
Reports
application at design time.
Full-Text Search
SQL Server 2005 supports rich, full-text search applications. Cataloging
Enhancements
capabilities provide greater flexibility over what is cataloged. Query
performance and scalability have been improved dramatically, and new
management tools provide greater insight into the full-text
implementation.
Top of page
Top 10 Features for Business Intelligence
Feature
Description
Analysis
With SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services moves into the realm of real- time
Services
analytics. From scalability enhancements to deep integration with Microsoft
Office, SQL Server 2005 helps extend business intelligence to every level of
your business.
Integration
SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is a next generation data integration
Services (SSIS) platform that can integrate data from any source. SSIS provides a scalable
and extensible platform that empowers development teams to build, manage,
and deploy integration solutions to meet unique integration needs.
Data Mining
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services (SSAS) provides tools for data
mining with which you can identify rules and patterns in your data, so that
you can determine why things happen and predict what will happen in the
future giving you powerful insight that will help your company make better
business decisions.
Reporting
SQL Server Reporting Services is a comprehensive, server-based reporting
Services
solution designed to help you author, manage, and deliver both paper-based
and interactive Web-based reports.
Clustering
Analysis Services improves availability with support for failover clustering,
Support
enhanced multi-instance support, and support for backing up and restoring
Analysis Services objects and data.
Key
Key performance indicators (KPIs) provide businesses with the capability to
Performance
define graphic, customizable business metrics to help generate and track key
Indicators
corporate benchmarks.
Scalability and
Features such as parallel partition processing, creation of remote relational
Performance
online analytical processing (ROLAP) or hybrid online analytical processing
(HOLAP) partitions, distributed partitioned cubes, persisted calculations, and
Feature
Description
proactive caching greatly improve the scalability and performance of Analysis
Services in SQL Server 2005.
Report Builder
Report Builder is a component of SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services that
enables business users to create and deploy reports with a user-friendly
enterprise data model.
Proactive
Proactive Caching combines MOLAP class query performance with real-time
Caching
data analysis and eliminates the need to maintain OLAP stores. The Proactive
Cache transparently synchronizes and maintains an updated copy of the data
organized specifically for high-speed querying and for isolating end-users
from overloading the relational databases. The structure of the cache is
automatically derived from the Universal Data Model (UDM) structure and can
be finely tuned to balance performance with latency of data.
Integration
Tight integration of SQL Server 2005 with Excel 2007 and Office SharePoint
with the
Server 2007 delivers a simple way for information workers to accessing,
Microsoft Office analyze and collaborate on BI information directly within the tools that they
System
use every day.
