Slipstreaming of updates in Denali
If you have ever tried installing a product 18 months after it was released you have probably found the base install very quick and then then it takes an age to apply all the hotfixes, service packs and QFEs. Service packs for visual studio have always been awful. Back in SQL 2000 days I think one of the scripts in the service pack took a very long time to run.
Well the good news is that with CTP3 of Denali automatic slipstreaming is here and they want feedback.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/petersad/archive/2011/07/13/provide-feedback-on-the-sql-server-code-name-denali-product-update-feature.aspx
Whats more you can apparently include CUs, SPs, Hotfixes.
Even better is that you can download them to a file share and have setup point at the file share
And finally they are testing the process now and not when the first CU comes out.
What I can’t tell from the blog post is what happens with existing installations. What is the related mechanism for applying a set of fixes to an existing install.
The feature is called Product Updates and you can read more on MSDN here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh231670(v=SQL.110).aspx