Database product gets first major revamp

Microsoft has unveiled SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1, the database product's first major revamp since its launch only a few months ago.

The service pack delivers database mirroring functionality to boost availability, complementing the existing high availability in SQL Server 2005 such as failover clustering, database snapshots, snapshot isolation and log shipping.

Service Pack 1 also adds the free SQL Server 2005 Express Edition database, which includes SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) functionality, full-text search and the newly released SQL Server Management Studio Express designed as a simplified graphical management environment for SQL Server Express Edition.

The update will also complement the recently announced SQL Server Everywhere Edition, a lightweight product targeted for application embedded storage on clients.

SQL Server Everywhere Edition is scheduled to be available as a Community Technology Preview this summer and released by year end.

The service pack also extends SSRS to support enterprise reporting on SAP NetWeaver BI via two new components: a Microsoft .Net Data provider for SAP NetWeaver BI and a new MDX Query Designer.

Paul Flessner, senior vice president of Microsoft's Data and Storage Platform Division, said: "The increasing mobility of workforces and the explosion of data on devices and rich clients, along with the opportunities offered by economic efficiencies in storage, drive the need for a new generation of data platform."