Database Engine Enhancements
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 introduces several improvements and new features in the Database Engine.
Enhanced Database Engine Capabilities
These are the areas in which the Database Engine has been enhanced.
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
Database objects, such as triggers, stored procedures, and user-defined types, can be written in .NET Framework languages, such as Microsoft Visual C#. Development and debugging is integrated into the Microsoft Visual Studio environment allowing developers to use the same tools to develop database objects as they use to develop .NET Framework components and services. The Transact-SQL language has been extended with features such as improved error handling and support for recursive queries. |
|
Manageability of the Database Engine is simplified with dynamic instance configuration, including dynamic AWE memory management and dynamic I/O and CPU affinity. Security is enhanced with features such as having all permissions grantable and the separation of users and schemas. |
|
The functionality of distributed queries has been enhanced by changes to Transact-SQL, support for new data types, and the addition of new SQL Trace events. |
|
The availability of SQL Server databases is improved by online indexing operations, fast recovery during crash recovery, and partial availability during restore operations, database page checksums, and backup media mirroring. Database mirroring enables the creation of hot standby servers providing rapid failover support with no loss of data from committed transactions. |
|
The Database Engine now supports an XML data type for storing XML documents in table columns or Transact-SQL variables. It also supports the XQuery language, including the XML Data Manipulation Language (XML DML). |
|
Data partitioning is enhanced with native table and index partitioning. Application concurrency is improved using the new snapshot isolation level and the ability to have multiple active result sets on a single connection. |
|
The collations and character sets of the Database Engine and its interfaces now include support for supplementary characters, and GB18030-encoded characters. |
|
Describes the extensive new security mechanisms. These mechanisms include surface area reduction at installation, surface area configuration tool, native encryption, integrated key management, granular authorization, configurable password policy, discrete execution context, and multiple proxy accounts. |