SQL Server 2008 R2 CTP to download and test the new features
It is a public news on the availability of the first community technology preview (CTP) of SQL Server 2008 R2 for MSDN and TechNet subscribers, including the general availability.
So what's new with SQL Server 2008 R2?
To find out that you need to download the CTP which provides the first opportunity to explore the features of R2 release, also it is useful to what kind of enhancements made to performance and scalability of DB engine. Microsoft claims that R2 will enable BI related features such enable self-service BI and Reporting to improve IT and developer efficiency. To get more on Self Service BI SQL Server 2008, “R2” site refers:
Self-Service Business Intelligence
IT departments and users have traditionally been at odds with each other over self-service analytics. IT departments seek to maintain IT governance and control; end-users want to generate and manage their own content and reporting. With managed self-service business intelligence in SQL Server 2008 R2, these two worlds meet, providing significant business advantage. SQL Server 2008 R2 provides both end-users and IT with cutting edge tools to create, analyze and model, share and manage business intelligence data in a secure and streamlined way.
Self-service analysis tools allow end-users to quickly create solutions from disparate data sources within a familiar Microsoft Office Excel user interface. By publishing these solutions in SharePoint Server, users can easily share them with others. IT gains management and oversight so they can help ensure the reliability, performance, and security of data-driven assets across the enterprise while also gaining better visibility into how people are using their data.
It is good innovation that SQL Server Business Intelligence has evolved in major enterprise application platform to improve the IT & data flow efficiency to reduce the time & cost in develooping such applications. Not only that it will help to scale with confidence by providing high levels of reliability, security and scalability for business critical applications.
On DBA & Developers perspective the SQL Server 2008 R2 brings Application and Multi-server Management: Improving DBA and developer efficiency. SQL Server News blog refers below that R2 brings a blend of features to combine the trends of DBA that are left with little time to effectively maintain and optimize their environment. To help defend against these costly trends, SQL Server 2008 R2 August CTP includes Application and Multi-Server Management capabilities which help DBAs proactively manage database environments at scale through centralized visibility into resource utilization and help streamline consolidation and upgrades across the application lifecycle.
Few new wizards are developed that will enable the DBAs to quickly setup multi-server management environment and dashboard viewpoints that will enable insights into instance and application utilization based on default Policy-Based Management capacity policies.
There is much more to Developers for Reporting enhancements, Report Builder 3.0 supports for geospatial visualization (maps) to produce new insights and discoveries by combining geospatial data with business information. Additionally, end users will experience significant performance improvements, with enhanced ability to use Report Builder in server mode. This allows for much faster report processing with caching of datasets on the report server when toggling between design and preview modes.
The CTP also provides a stand-alone installer for Report Builder 3.0.
So if you are geared up to develop the new application featuers taking help of these new features on reporting services and better DBA functionalities, you should download the CTP that is an opportunity to experience early, pre-release feature capabilities.
What's next?
Download the CTP
The Community Technology Preview allows you to experience SQL Server 2008 R2 before final release.
Feedback to SQL Server Development team via Connect
Collaborate and evaluate SQL Server 2008 R2 to ensure the product exceeds your expectations and needs.
Know more about this release on forums
Learn more about upcoming releases and other important product information.
