What's New (Database Engine)

SQL Server 2008 R2 Books Online (November CTP)

[This topic is pre-release documentation and is subject to change in future releases. Blank topics are included as placeholders.]

This latest release of the SQL Server Database Engine introduces new features and enhancements that increase the power and productivity of architects, developers, and administrators who design, develop, and maintain data storage systems.

These are the areas in which the Database Engine has been enhanced.

Topic	Description
Manageability Enhancements (Database Engine)	SQL Server 2008 R2 introduces the SQL Server Utility, which provides the ability to enroll data-tier applications and instances of SQL Server into the SQL Server Utility for centralized management and consolidation. Another addition is the data-tier application (DAC), which provides a single unit of deployment and management for the data-tier objects used by an application.
Availability Enhancements (Database Engine)	The availability of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 databases is improved by enhancements to database mirroring. Database mirroring enables the creation of hot standby servers that provide rapid failover support with no loss of data from committed transactions.
Programmability Enhancements (Database Engine)	Programmability enhancements in the Database Engine include new data storage features, new data types, new full-text search architecture, and numerous improvements and additions to Transact-SQL.
Scalability and Performance Enhancements (Database Engine)	Scalability and performance enhancements in the Database Engine include filtered indexes and statistics, new table and query hints, and new query performance and query processing features.
Security Enhancements (Database Engine)	Security enhancements in the Database Engine include new encryption functions, the transparent data encryption and extensible key management features, and a clarification of DES algorithms.

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