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Windows 7 for XP ProfessionalsUpdating Support Skills from XP to Windows 7by Bink.nu's Raymond Comvalius
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Microsoft is updating the branding for SQL Services and SQL Data Services. Effective immediately, SQL Services will be called Microsoft SQL Azure, and SQL Data Services will be Microsoft SQL Azure Database. This name change doesn’t reflect a change in the products themselves; we will still be providing a powerful relational database foundation to the Azure Services Platform. By standardizing our naming conventions, we’re demonstrating the tight integration between the components of the services platform. More intuitive names also help to reinforce the relationships between our on-premises and cloud solutions. Ultimately, the goal is to drive simplicity and clarity for customers as they consider on-premises and cloud computing approaches for solving their IT needs.
There will be more news and updates related to our Software + Services strategy next week at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans. For those of you not attending in person, all the news and information can be found at: http://www.digitalwpc.com/ . Check back often starting next Monday, July 13, for daily updates.
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Thanks to Microsoft Belgium
Note: To upgrade SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, obtain the SP3 version of Express Edition or Express Edition with Advanced Services.For a list of new features and improvements that are included in SQL Server 2005 SP3, review the What's New document.
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Odd Kristoffersen: When will SQL Server 2008 ship? “When it’s ready,” which has been Microsoft’s standard answer for the release to manufacturing (RTM) date of pretty much every Microsoft product, and certainly for all its SQL Server products. But I was talking to a Microsoft representative the other day regarding implementation of Dynamics AX 2009 and we are eager to use SQL 2008 in this deployment to take advantage of the database compression that will give great improvments regarding throughput, scalability and response time. I was then told that the scheduled release date now is 31. July.Any followp up questions regarding the release date of SQL 2008 was answered with the usual; "I don't know, I can not say"So anyway we can wait 6 more days to see if this will come true, because the benefits of deploying on 2008 plattform will be so great that it's worth the while.
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I have never seen such a huge patch!
Anyway this patch arrived through automatic updates on the Bink.nu webserver, when the install was initiated together with the other July patches it failed. After reboot the Bink.nu database was in recovery mode! That is why Bink.nu was offline last night for over 2 hours. After this two hours we decided to stop the recovery, we also tried to install the patch again, but it failed again.
I'm still investigating the issue.
I also have issues with the exchange 2007 sp1 update rollup 3, which causes to break my OWA, so uninstalled that too.
Happy patching!
More info on SQL patch at source
The long wait for SQL Server 2008 is nearly over.
At its Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston on July 9, Bob Kelly, Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Infrastructure Server Marketing, told attendees that SQL Server 2008 will be on the August price list. He said that Microsoft will keep pricing the same for the new release as it is for SQL Server 2005.
Microsoft released the near-final Release Candidate (RC) 0 test build of SQL Server 2008 in early June.
Microsoft officially “launched” SQL Server 2008 in February, alongside Visual Studio 2008 and Windows Server 2008. Earlier this year, Microsoft officials said they were planning to deliver SQL Server 2008 by mid-2008. Company officials changed their guidance a couple of months ago, noting that Microsoft was planning to deliver the final SQL Server 2008 release in the third calendar quarter of 2008.
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We've long recommended that customers use the Windows Firewall to protect SQL Server installations. Starting with Windows XP/SP2, and continuing with Windows Vista, the firewall has been enabled by default on Windows client operating systems. Windows Server 2008 marks the first time this protection has been extended to a Windows Server OS.
For those of you migrating from Windows Server 2003 or earlier to Windows Server 2008, if you have not previously heeded the advice to enable the firewall, you may be surprised by connectivity failures caused by the firewall (for any version of SQL) and you will need to take action to enable the connectivity you want.
Don't panic! J Choosing the right firewall strategy isn't as hard as it may seem, and it will pay dividends over the long run. We have a books online entry that has lots of good information on how to use the firewall. That document is available at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc646023(SQL.100).aspx.
We strongly recommend you read that before making changes to your firewall strategy. For detailed information about the firewall, see
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/network/bb545423.aspx
I use the term "firewall strategy" intentionally, because there are some tradeoffs that only you can make. You might want to simply "configure the firewall" to make it all "just work," and you could do that, but it might expose you in ways you don't intend. To highlight that point, I will refer you to a recent survey by David Litchfield of NGS Software. Quoting from the executive summary:
The survey found that there are approximately 368,000 Microsoft SQL Servers directly accessible on the Internet and around 124,000 Oracle database servers directly accessible on the Internet.
That's a lot of servers directly exposed to the Internet, and I doubt strongly that level of exposure is intended. So we're hopeful that you will spend some time making choices you are comfortable with, and that the change to enable the firewall on Windows Server 2008 will lead to a level of exposure that more closely matches your real business needs. And only you can determine your real business needs.
I should note that exposure by itself does not imply that there is any particular vulnerability. Indeed, only 4% of the exposed SQL servers were running a vulnerable version of SQL Server, and those few vulnerable servers appear to have gone unpatched for many years now (our competitors fared much worse in this regard, candidly). But in the event of a newly-discovered vulnerability in SQL Server those 368,000 servers could become 368,000 targets overnight (or faster), and we all want to avoid that.
So, our first piece of advice: review your existing firewall strategy, including your host and network firewalls, to ensure that none of your servers are unintentionally exposed to the internet or to untrustworthy insiders.
Continue at source for the steps
Over the last year we have successfully established the Incremental Servicing Model (ISM), which has to date delivered 7 cumulative updates (CU) to our customers, in regular 8 week intervals. We’ve heard feedback from customers of the need for a third service pack for SQL Server 2005. I’m happy to inform you that we will in fact deliver an SP3 following the release to manufacturing of SQL Server 2008. Our goal is to get SP3 released in the market in CY2008.
The Incremental Servicing Model has been very effective ensuring that customers receive the latest updates for SQL Server on a regular predictable schedule. We are hearing positive comments from customers, who like the ease and predictability the ISM provides. Customers rely on the predictable time frame to pre-select the day that the fix will go into production, which eliminates any downtime for its servers.
LOS ANGELES — Feb. 27, 2008 — Kicking off more than 225 events around the world and joined by more than 4,000 customers and partners, Microsoft Corp.’s Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer today showcased the next generation of infrastructure and application platform products, including Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008.
The launch represents a major milestone to help customers on the road to Dynamic IT, Microsoft’s initiative to help customers optimize their people, processes and technology, and in turn position IT as a strategic asset for their business. These new enterprise products help customers more efficiently and securely manage their entire infrastructure and move to a virtualized environment while also delivering business intelligence and next-generation Web experiences to boost business results. The theme of the events, “Heroes Happen Here,” highlights the outstanding work that IT professionals, developers and partners do every day to create solutions and cutting-edge applications that keep global commerce and industry running.
“IT professionals and developers tell us they spend too much time and money managing existing systems and not enough investing in new capabilities that create strategic advantage,” Ballmer said. “That feedback is at the core of the innovations in this new wave of products. Already, the overwhelming response from thousands of IT professionals and developers around the world is that this is the most secure enterprise platform we have ever delivered, and that it will simplify management and enable them to focus more on driving their businesses forward.”
Big Benefits for Early Adopters
Researchers at consulting agency Capgemini looked at companies and institutions in the financial services, education, retail and high-technology industries using Windows Server 2008 in a mix of geographic regions. They found that the new operating system quickly adds value to IT operations through enhancements to management, security and reliability. On average, deployment duration was reduced by up to 60 percent and IT reduced costs by up to $124,000 per year. Cost reductions resulted from a wide range of areas, including the recovery of five IT staff hours per server and 91 percent less downtime. A white paper detailing usage scenarios and providing more data on the impact of deploying Windows Server 2008 is available at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/product-information.aspx.
Already IT professionals and developers around the world are using Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and test versions of SQL Server 2008 to implement more secure platforms and Web applications while reducing costs and speeding development.
With the introduction of Windows Server 2008, leading global communications provider Verizon Business will deliver this next-generation platform to its managed hosting customers worldwide, enabling them to achieve greater reliability, performance and control over their IT infrastructure. In addition, Microsoft’s advanced Windows Deployment Services suite will allow Verizon Business to increase the speed of deployments and simplify management.
“This next-generation technology means a great deal to our enterprise customers,” said Michael Marcellin, vice president of product marketing at Verizon Business. “Through our long-standing relationship with Microsoft and as an early adopter of this technology, we are poised to continue to deliver innovative solutions to customers around the globe that will help them harness the power of the Internet.”
Go Daddy, the largest paid, shared Web hosting provider in North America, with 27 million domain names under management, is incorporating the new Windows Server 2008 with Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS7) software into its Windows hosting product line. In its testing, Go Daddy has seen a 300 percent to 400 percent increase in server performance using the new technology. The performance gains will allow Go Daddy to run a more efficient and effective service for its shared hosting customers.
“We are excited to offer this technology to our customers,” said Bob Parsons, CEO and founder of Go Daddy. “With more than 5 million customers around the globe, Go Daddy prides itself on using cutting-edge technology that will help enhance Web site performance and provide our customers with a solid foundation for their IT needs.”
At Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions, the combination of Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 enabled the creation of a cutting-edge Web site that provides near-instant access to real estate and neighborhood information about listings for sale, home values, schools and much more. The site operates significantly faster than was previously possible and was developed at a much lower cost.
“Not only is the new Web site visually cool — serving up customized content, 3-D aerial views and animations 10 times faster than was possible with older technologies — but it also was created for approximately $1.4 million less than it would have cost using other development tools,” said Marty Frame, senior vice president and general manager, Cyberhomes, Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions. “And, most important, visitors spend an average of 30 minutes on the site per visit, four times the typical average for competitors’ sites.”
These companies are just a sampling of the more than 3 million customers that participated in early feedback programs or as beta testers during product development.
The performance improvements and enterprise-class features of SQL Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 have resulted in record-breaking results. Today Microsoft disclosed new world-record performance results on TPC-E and SAP Sales and Distribution (SD) Standard Application 3-tier benchmarks running on four-socket industry-standard blade servers.** Microsoft also published breakthrough performance benchmarks for several customer scenarios, including leading results on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Dynamics AX, Siemens Teamcenter and Camstar Manufacturing Execution Systems.
Microsoft also announced that Microsoft Windows Server 2008 with .NET Framework 3.5 delivers faster throughput than IBM WebSphere 6.1 on Red Hat Linux as shown through two new benchmark tests measuring scalability and performance in mission-critical enterprise scenarios. The sample application shows 117 percent better throughput of Windows Server using the IBM-designed Trade 6.1 benchmark; and Sun Microsystems’ WSTest Web services benchmark demonstrates 94 percent better throughput on Windows Server when processing Web Service requests. More information on the results is available at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/HHHlaunch/docs/BenchmarkFS.doc.
Partners See Opportunity
Microsoft has worked with more than 1,000 industry partners to help plan, build, test and deploy leading-edge solutions by providing early access to code, training and testing, and certification support. Hundreds of independent software vendors have demonstrated their support with the development of a wide variety of business applications for industries that include retail, accounting, commerce, engineering, financial services, healthcare, supply chain and more. In a related announcement, Microsoft detailed extensive investments in programs and tools for software and hardware partners. More information on the announcement is available at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/feb08/02-26ISVWS08PR.mspx. A full list of vendors offering applications certified for Windows Server 2008 or pledging to provide support for their applications on Windows Server 2008 can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/hhhlaunch/docs/PartnerWS08FS.doc.
Further demonstrating support for the new products, more than 40 companies are making announcements today and more than 80 partners are participating in launch events around the world, including platinum sponsors Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), CA, Cisco Systems Inc., Citrix Systems Inc., Dell Inc., Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, Intel Corporation, Quest Software Inc., SAP AG and Unisys Corp. Highlighting the opportunity for industry partners, a 2007 IDC study* predicts that for every $1 Microsoft earns from Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 this year in the U.S., the ecosystem beyond Microsoft — software and hardware vendors that support or incorporate the products — will reap about $18 in revenue. In 2008, this ecosystem is predicted to sell more than $120 billion in products and services revolving around Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
Product Availability and Information
Windows Server 2008, including a beta version of the Hyper-V virtualization technology, and Visual Studio 2008 are available today. The feature-complete, February community technology preview of SQL Server 2008 is also available, with general availability expected in the third quarter of 2008.
Later this year Microsoft will release the Windows Essential Server Solutions family of products for small and midsize companies built on Windows Server 2008 and the newest Microsoft server technologies and services: Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Essential Business Server 2008. Windows HPC Server 2008, the successor to Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003, is on track for availability in the second half of 2008 and is designed to increase productivity, scalability and manageability for high-performance computing scenarios. In addition, Windows Storage Server 2008, the next-generation storage solution based on Windows Server 2008, will be available by the end of the year.
Additional information on the launch of Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 is available in the virtual pressroom at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/HHHlaunch/default.mspx.
I've been wanting to write this blog entry for some time now and just have never found the time to sit down and do it. Well today seem like as good a day as any to do it. I'm not focusing on the entire SQL server development process but rather give you some insight in to what we did in the manageability team. This is more philosophical for high-level process then meat and potatoes.
After we shipped SQL2K5 we sat down and brainstormed things we could do for the next release. As you can imagine the list was amazingly long. There was one major theme that we wanted to adhere to: make it easier to manage SQL Server. You can say this a number of different ways but they all mean the same thing. Honestly that was the easy part the hard part was deciding of all the things we could do what would have the biggest bang for the buck. We did some detailed customer analysis to come up with three big bets. Those turned out to be Policy-based Management, Data Collector, and Intellisense. There were also a number of smaller areas we knew we wanted to invest in. Finally, we knew there were several things with the tools that we wanted to fix.
As anyone developing software knows you can't do everything at once. So we had to choose where to start. There are a number of different software development methodologies and processes. One thing that is common among almost all of them is to start with the riskest areas first. This meant we had to start on the three big bets.