What is New in SQL Server 2008

You will be wondering why i jump to This Topic without having any explanation about SQL 2005 topic. as many of you upgrading from 2000 to 2008 and the latest version of SQL Server is SQL 2008 R2. so i have decided to cover the What is new in all the Latest version then we will move to Topic by Topic. there are the lot of features introduced in SQL Server 2008 for more info please visit www.Microsoft.com

1. Data Compression
           Data compression reduces the space to store tables ,indexes. so we have ability to use more spaces by using data compression.

2. Transparent Data Encryption
           Data can be stored securely by encrypting the database files. Normally if the disk is encrypted it can de-encrypted by an authorized agent.we will not be having a direct control on it. however SQL server can encrypt and de-encrypt directly ,so the application can read the encrypted data.

3. Data Auditing
            It has ability to track and logs related to the databases and server ,later we can audit logons,password changes and many events we can track. this will help to troubleshoot the problem. also this can be saved as a file or event logs.

4. Resource Governor
           The Resource Governor will help to allocate CPU and memory resources to high priority applications.

5. Hot-Add CPUs and Hot-Add Memory
            This features available with the SQL Server Enterprise 64-Bit Edition.SQL has the ability to add CPU dynamically to the Servers.it does not require any reboot or Limitation to the number of client connections.

6. Server Group Management
           We can Query T-SQL on single centralized management Server into a Single result set.

7. Upgrade Advisor
            This will help to identify any issues for an upgrade

 8. Partition Aligned Indexed Views
            Indexed Views now can be created in order to the partitioning scheme of the table that the index referenced.

9. Backup Compression
            Backup compression is now possible in 2008 and this will compress the database backup without compressing the database . this is supported for all the backup types. automatically backup will uncompressed when the restore happens.

10. MERGE Operator
                New MERGE operator streamline the process of populating a data warehouse source databases. MERGE statement will help to identify the difference between source and Destination database changes (insert,update).