Microsoft SQL Server 2008
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 is engineered to be a world-class relational database management system that provides advanced reliability, privacy, speed, scalability, self-maintenance, and business intelligence. Significant features incorporated into SQL Server 2008 include application-independent data encryption for guaranteeing confidentiality, more reliable mirroring and live processor plug in for zero-downtime, improved auditing features for regulatory compliance, SQL Server Management Studio to minimize administration costs, new synchronization services to accommodate mobile users, easier report generation through tighter interaction with Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and SharePoint Server 2007, and built-in handling full-text indexing to improve speed and streamline management.
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 is available in versions to meet the requirements of organizations from small to global for fast return on investment. The Enterprise edition is designed for demanding scenarios such as data warehousing or advanced analytics. The Standard edition is intended for small companies or departments who want the best-of-class RDBM platform for online transaction processing or business intelligence. The Workgroup edition offers protected and reliable online synchronization and management functions for satellite offices.
Progent's Microsoft-Premier SQL Server consultants offer an array of support services to help businesses of any size to design, deploy, manage, and repair MS SQL Server 2008 systems in order to get the maximum competitive benefit from Microsoft's state-of-the-art relational database technology. Also, Progent offers assistance with system architecture, company-wide security, and application development to optimize the business benefit of your SQL Server network. Progent can also help your company to evaluate the potential pitfalls and benefits of migrating from Microsoft SQL Server 2008 to SQL Server 2012, and can help you to plan and carry out a smooth migration.
Improvements to SQL 2008
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 delivers important improvements in key categories including security, reliability, ease of administration, functionality, business information, expandability, and speed.
- Protection
SQL Server 2008 offers transparent data encryption of whole databases, data files, or logs. This protects confidential data without the need of reprogramming business applications. More sophisticated mechanisms for configuring and administering audits help companies to meet regulations.
- Reliability
Microsoft's high-availability technology is designed to provide near-zero system downtime by enhanced fault-tolerance, non-intrusive maintenance, and quicker recovery after an unplanned failure. Advanced failover clustering mitigates the effect of hardware breakdowns, live-add processor capability and peer-to-peer replication can avoid routine downtime, and archive compression speeds up restore time.
- Manageability
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 streamlines policy management and tracking via intelligent mechanisms in Microsoft's Policy-Based Framework System. This reduces support expenses by allowing administrators to save time in policy checking. Self tuning and troubleshooting is supported by SQL Server's Performance Studio. SQL 2008's Resource Governor allows managers to define priorities for various workloads in order to deliver predictable performance to users.
- Capability
Microsoft SQL 2008 enables the next wave of programs by recognizing multiple types of structured and semi-structured data such as images, sound, video, date and time, and geospatial data. LINQ speeds up application programming by allowing data queries from Visual C# and Microsoft Visual Basic .NET.
- Management Reporting
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services simplify report creation, management, and distribution. SSRS enables companies to create business reports from a broad range of data sources including relational or XML-based. Reports can be viewed via the web, Office Word and Excel 2007 and Excel 2010, or an Office SharePoint site. SQL 2008 Analysis Services offer advanced data mining capabilities and new Data Mining Add-ins for Office 2007 make information accessible at the workstation.
- Performance and Scalability
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 works with 64-bit processors and multi-core and multi-CPU systems and can handle up to eight terabytes of RAM. For multi-processor environments, SQL Server 2008 avoids memory bottlenecks by transparently supporting NUMA-based servers. By enabling hot add-ins of CPUs and RAM memory, Microsoft SQL 2008 permits companies to scale a database solution up without shutting the production system down. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 also enables new nodes to be added and connected live even during replication.
SQL Server 2008 provides numerous isolation levels that allow increased throughput through concurrent transactions while preserving read consistency. Speed and scalability are both increased by more efficient database compression, and managers are provided a powerful library of tools like SQL Server Integration Services to monitor and tune responsiveness.
How Progent's Engineers Offer Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Support
Progent's Microsoft-certified consultants can help your small business to choose a version of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 suitable for your company's goals. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE network engineers and Microsoft Windows Server consultants can assist you to build a high-availability, high-speed, and secure environment by providing clustering expertise and server virtualization support. Progent's SQL experts can make sure your organization configures SQL 2008 properly, and that your SQL-powered DBM solution is incorporated effectively with your business applications. Progent can provide continuous network monitoring to make sure your corporate information system is healthy, and Progent's online Help Desk is ready to offer fast resolutions for SQL database problems. Progent's certified data protection consultants can assess your business-wide security policies and mechanisms and recommend improvements for more complete regulatory compliance.
Progent's Microsoft-certified engineers can also integrate fault-tolerant and high-performance backup and restore systems for SQL Server 2008 data via Microsoft Data Protection Manager. Progent's consultants can assist your company to develop an effective workplace recovery plan, implement an affordable non-stop network infrastructure, deploy a Microsoft Data Protection Manager-powered recovery system for MS SQL Server 2008 data, thoroughly test your system, educate your administrative personnel or local consultants how to maintain Data Protection Manager, or provide extensive information technology outsourcing services including remote hosting of virtual or physical DPM servers in Progent's world-class data center. For details, go to Data Protection Manager (DPM) Expertise.
Microsoft has indicated that SQL Server 2008 has arrived at end-of-support status. This can cause chronic problems with compliance, manageability, and maintenance expense. Progent's SQL Server 2008 consulting experts can help your business to plan and execute a cost-effective move from SQL 2008 to a current version of SQL Server and can help you to evaluate the strategic advantages of a SQL Server migration. Progent's consultants offer online and onsite consulting services that include Microsoft SQL 2019 upgrade support and SQL Server 2017 configuration and development assistance.
If you wish to ask Progent about consulting expertise for MS SQL Server technology, call 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.
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