I've just posted a new article on the hierarchyid data type of SQL Server 2008. It's an exciting new feature that allows you to represent data hierarchies in SQL Server tables.
The articles provides an excellent insight over the type and comes with source code for you to experiment in your enviroment.
Read the full article here.
Service Pack 1 for SQL Server 2008 was made available last week. But since I was in vacation the post only came out today :) The Service pack is available via download here and is primarily a roll-up of cumulative updates 1 to 3, quick fix engineering updates and minor fixes made in response to requests reported through the SQL Server community. While there are no new features in this service pack, customers running SQL Server 2008 should download and install SP1 to take advantage of the fixes which increase supportability and stability of SQL Server 2008.
Customers have no...
Microsoft released today the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 GDR (General Distribution Release). This release addresses some issues and should only be installed if you have some kind of issue. Otherwise, it is not recommended to do so. You better wait.
In case you don't know what a GDR is, here's a quick explanation:
A GDR addresses an issue that has a broad customer impact, that has security implications, or that has both. It is determined and issued by Microsoft as appropriate and when appropriate. GDRs are kept to a minimum and cannot be requested by a customer. Microsoft internally determines whether a...
Not that i'm giving the common blog reader any news, but this post aims to list all the new features of SQL Server 2008, and tries to explain each and everyone of them. It's going to be a work in progress, with links and content being added as I post in the blog. Think of this as a little SQL Server 2008 "reference". Here goes:
Security
Transparent Data Encryption
External Key Management
Data Auditing - This is one the core features of SQL Server 2008. With it, you'll have:
The introduction of first class 'AUDIT' objects.
...
SQL Server 2008 has been recently released. Whether you are an MSDN subscriber or not, you may or may not be able to download the full version. Either way, start getting those bytes now, and you can rest assured you'll be in for a treat.
Here's the press release:
“REDMOND, Wash. - Aug. 6, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the release to manufacturing of Microsoft SQL Server 2008, the new version of the company’s acclaimed data management and business intelligence platform. This version of SQL Server provides powerful new capabilities such as support for policy-based management, auditing, large-scale data warehousing,...