SQL Server 2008 R2

Question

Hi all,

I heard on the grapevine that Microsoft will be releasing SQL Server 2008 R2 within a year. Though I initially thought this was a patch for the just released 2008 version, I realised that it’s actually a completely different version that you would have to pay for. (Am I correct, if you had SQL Server 2008, would you have to pay again if you wanted to upgrade to 2008 R2?)

If you’re already running SQL Server 2008, would you say it’s still worth the upgrade? Or does it depend on the size of your company and current setup. For what I’ve initially read, I do get the impression that this version would be more useful for the very high end hardware setup where you want to have very good scalability.

With regard to programming, is there any extra enhancements/support in there which you’re aware of that will significantly help .NET Products/Web Development?

Initially found a couple of links on it, but I was wondering if anyone had anymore info to share on subject as I couldn’t find nothing on SO about it?

Thanks.

New SQL Server R2

Microsoft Link on it.

Microsoft SQL 2008 R2

EDIT: More information based on the Express Edition

One very interesting thing about SQL Server 2008 R2 concerns the Express edition.

Previous express versions of SQL Server Express had a database size limit of 4GB. With SQL Server Express 2008 R2, this has now been increased to 10GB !!

This now makes the FREE express edition a much more viable option for small & medium sized applications that are relatively light on database requirements. Bear in mind, that this limit is per database, so if you coded your application cleverly enough to use a separate database for historical/archived data, you could squeeze even more out of it!

For more information, see here: http://blogs.msdn.com/sqlexpress/archive/2010/04/21/database-size-limit-increased-to-10gb-in-sql-server-2008-r2-express.aspx

Answer 1

Well, based on the practice by many larger corporations and organizations to wait until a service pack 1 is available for any given Microsoft product, it might still be a while before you can deploy SQL Server 2010 - pardon me: 2008 R2 :-)

SQL Server 2008 is indeed quite an extensive update, and if you have the option to deploy it, I personally would definitely recommend doing so. It does have a plethora of new features that no doubt will make your life easier one way or another.

Marc

Answer 2

You've got a few different questions in here, so here's each one with the answers:

Am I correct, if you had SQL Server 2008, would you have to pay again if you wanted to upgrade to 2008 R2?

Yes. Microsoft is taking the approach that you get patches for free (Service Packs and Cumulative Update Packs), but new features cost money. SQL Server 2008 R2 contains new features. If you just want to stay current on patches, check out the SQL Server Release Date Calendar at SQLServerPedia. I keep the free patches on there.

If you’re already running SQL Server 2008, would you say it’s still worth the upgrade?

It depends on what you're using it for. The main focus of 2008 R2 is business intelligence. If you're doing data warehousing or analytics, it'll be worth the upgrade.

With regard to programming, is there any extra enhancements/support in there which you’re aware of that will significantly help .NET Products/Web Development?

No.

I was wondering if anyone had anymore info to share on subject as I couldn’t find nothing on SO about it?

It's not even available as a beta yet, so you won't find much in the community. For insider tidbits, search for Project Gemini or Project Kilimanjaro in your favorite search engines. These were the pre-release codes for the big components in SQL Server 2008 R2. Several months ago, I collected some of the Kilimanjaro and Gemini stories on my blog.