SQL Server 2008 CTP is released

Microsoft has released its much-awaited SQL Server 2008 (known popularly as “Katmai”) CTP version that is designed to meet the Data Platform vision of the Microsoft. The SQL Server 2008 capabilities deliver on the four key areas of the data platform vision.

• Mission-Critical Platform –SQL Server 2008 Declarative management Framework (DMF) will allow you to manage your SQL Server configuration across many databases and servers by defining policy rules that are automatically applied, monitored and enforced. SQL Server 2008 also protects valuable information in existing applications and disconnected devices. In addition, SQL Server 2008 delivers predictable query performance with an optimized platform.
• Dynamic Development – SQL Server 2008 along with the .NET Framework enables developers to build the next generation of applications. Developers are more productive because they work with business entities instead of tables and columns. They can build applications that enable users to take their data with them and synchronize their data with back-end servers.
• Beyond Relational Data – SQL Server 2008 supports developers to consume any type of data, from XML to documents and build applications that incorporate location awareness that can solve existing globalization problems.
• Pervasive Business Insight – SQL Server 2008 provides a scalable infrastructure that can manage reports and analysis of any size or complexity while at the same time empowering users because of its close integration with the Microsoft Office System. This enables IT to drive business intelligence throughout the organization. SQL Server 2008 makes great strides in data warehousing, enabling users to consolidate data marts in an enterprise data warehouse.

To know more about Microsoft Data Platform Vision and how SQL Server 2008 meets the needs of the next generation of data-driven applications please find the below white paper from Microsoft

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/sql2008Overview.mspx

Microsoft also allows the free download of the CTP version for those registered with the SQL Server 2008 CTP program.

MARS (Multiple Active Result Sets)

MARS for (Multiple Active Result Sets) is a new feature supported in SQL Server 2005 Data access that allows multiple requests to interleave in the server. It allows execution of multiple requests within a single connection through allowing request to run and, within the execution, allows another requests to execute. However execution of MARS is interleaving and not performing parallel execution.

The MARS infrastructure allows multiple batches to execute in an interleaved fashion, though execution can only be switched at well-defined points. As a matter of fact, most statements must run atomically within a batch. The following statements are supported for MARS

• SELECT


• FETCH


• READTEXT


• RECEIVE


• BULK INSERT (or BCP interface)

The behavior of MARS with more than one request running under the same transaction under different scenarios is explained in detail

Conclusion

Support for Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS) in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 increases the performance tuning options of the application. It brings the cursor-programming model closer together with the performance and power of the default-processing mode of the relational engine. However it cannot be considered as a replacement for cursor programming.