SQL Updates Newsletter – July 2016

Recent Releases and Announcements

• Support for SQL Server 2014 RTM ended on 7/12/2016. Please upgrade to the latest service pack as soon as possible.
  • https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/search?sort=PN&alpha=Microsoft%20SQL%20Server%202014&Filter=FilterSP&spdate=0 
• Cumulative Update 1 for SQL Server 2016
  • https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3164674
• SQL Server 2014 Service Pack 2 is now available
  • Improvements include: Automatic Soft NUMA partitioning, Dynamic Memory Object Scaling, MAXDOP hint for DBCC CHECK* commands, Database Cloning, Index Usage DMV behavior updated, Support for UTF-8 in BULK INSERT and BCP, Lightweight per-operator query execution profiling, Always ON Lease Timeout Logging, Mitigation for underestimated and overestimated memory grant, Improved diagnostics for query execution plans that involve residual predicate pushdown,  and more.
  • https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/sqlreleaseservices/sql-2014-service-pack-2-is-now-available/
  • https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3171021
  • Download: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=53168
• Official launch of Windows Server 2016 will be at the Ignite conference (September 2016)
  • https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/windowsserver/2016/07/12/windows-server-2016-new-current-branch-for-business-servicing-option/
• Cumulative Update 4 for SQL Server 2012 SP3
  • https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3165264
• Cumulative Update 13 for SQL Server 2012 SP2
  • https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3165266
• Introducing the new Basic Installer experience for SQL Server 2016 Express, SQL Server 2016 Developer, and SQL Server 2016 Evaluation Editions.
  • https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/sqlreleaseservices/the-sql-server-basic-installer-just-install-it-2/
• The first monthly update of SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) following the SQL Server 2016 release is now available.
  • https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt238290.aspx
  • NOTE: this release of SSMS enables the ‘XACT_ABORT’ option in SSMS by default
• SQL Server 2016 posts world record TPC-H 10 TB benchmark
  • https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/dataplatforminsider/2016/07/18/sql-server-2016-posts-world-record-tpc-h-10-tb-benchmark/
• Microsoft drivers 4.0 for PHP for SQL Server with PHP 7.0 support released
  • https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/dataplatforminsider/2016/07/20/microsoft-drivers-4-0-for-php-for-sql-server-with-php-7-0-support-released/
• Announcing the JDBC Driver 6.0 for SQL Server
  • https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/jdbcteam/2016/07/14/announcing-the-jdbc-driver-6-0-for-sql-server/
• Azure ML Now Supports Multiple R & Python Versions, Including Microsoft R Open & Python 3
  • https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/machinelearning/2016/07/19/azure-ml-now-supports-multiple-r-python-versions-including-microsoft-r-open-python-3/
• Update for SQL server Integration Services Feature Pack for Azure
  • https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/ssis/2016/07/22/update-for-sql-server-integration-services-feature-pack-for-azure-with-support-to-azure-moon-cake-and-new-blob-storage-account/
• Keep up with the national conventions through Bing's convention experience
  • https://blogs.microsoft.com/firehose/2016/07/13/keep-up-with-the-national-conventions-through-bing
• New VM images available in Azure Government
  • Includes: SQL Server 2016 Standard Windows Server 2012 R2
  • https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/azuregov/2016/06/30/new-vm-images-available-in-azure-government/
• SQL Server Data Tools July Update
  • https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/ssdt/2016/06/30/sql-server-data-tools-july-update-2/
• Data-driven alerts, row-level security and data classification are all new to Power BI this month
  • Power BI now includes data-driven alerts that let users receive notifications when certain data goes beyond set ranges.
  • Added row-level security to restrict data access based on who’s accessing it, dashboard data classification and more.
  • https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-bi-july-update-for-service-and-mobile/
  • https://blogs.microsoft.com/firehose/2016/07/29/data-driven-alerts-row-level-security-and-data-classification-are-all-new-to-power-bi-this-month/
• Announcing Azure SQL DW   General Availability
  • Azure SQL Data Warehouse uses an elastic massively parallel processing (MPP) architecture built on top of the industry-leading SQL Server 2016 database engine.
  • https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/dataplatforminsider/2016/07/12/the-elastic-future-of-data-warehousing/

 

Recent Whitepapers/E-books/Training/Tutorials

• [Video] Elastic Database Capabilities with Azure SQL DB
  • https://mva.microsoft.com/en-US/training-courses/elastic-database-capabilities-with-azure-sql-db-16554?l=wQuZyA1fC_9006218965
• [Video] Migrating SQL Server Databases to Azure
  • https://mva.microsoft.com/en-US/training-courses/migrating-sql-server-databases-to-azure-16594?l=aUS07E3lC_7705121157
• [Video] PowerShell for SQL Data Professionals
  • https://mva.microsoft.com/en-US/training-courses/powershell-for-sql-data-professionals-16532?l=XgA5w0PgC_8805121157
• [E-book] Introducing Microsoft Power BI
  • https://mva.microsoft.com/ebooks
• [Video] A Lap Around R Tools for Visual Studio
  • R Tools for Visual Studio is a new, Open Source and free tool for R Users built on top of the powerful Visual Studio IDE.
  • https://channel9.msdn.com/events/useR-international-R-User-conference/useR2016/A-Lap-Around-R-Tools-for-Visual-Studio
• [Video] Migrating Access to SQL Server
  • https://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/MVP-Office-Dev/Migrating-Access-to-SQL-Server

 

Monthly Script Tips

• [Sample Of Jul. 7] How to find code comments in source code using Regular Expressions
  • https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/onecode/2016/07/07/sample-of-jul-7-how-to-find-code-comments-in-source-code-using-regular-expressions/
• [Script Of Jul. 27] How to list the foreign keys and primary keys of a SQL Server table
  • https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/onescript/2016/07/27/script-of-jul-27-how-to-list-the-foreign-keys-and-primary-keys-of-a-sql-server-table/
• [Script Of Jul. 26] How to find created and last updated date of stored procedures in SQL instance
  • https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/onescript/2016/07/26/script-of-jul-26-how-to-find-created-and-last-updated-date-of-stored-procedures-in-sql-instance/
• [Script Of Jul. 13] How to get the information of last backup for all the SQL databases
  • https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/onescript/2016/07/13/script-of-jul-13-how-to-get-the-information-of-last-backup-for-all-the-sql-databases/

 

Windows Server 2016 – Get Started

• [Video] What’s New in Windows Server
  • https://mva.microsoft.com/en-US/training-courses/whats-new-in-windows-server-2016-16457
• Windows Server 2016 Data Sheet
  • https://download.microsoft.com/download/7/2/9/7290EA05-DC56-4BED-9400-138C5701F174/WS2016LicensingDatasheet.pdf
• Windows Server channel
  • 10 Reasons You'll Love Windows Server 2016
  • Feature Deep Dives
  • https://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/windowsserver
• Containers channel
  • Container Information
  • Demos
  • Quick Starts
  • Feature Deep Dives
  • https://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/containers
• Windows Server Blog
  • https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/windowsserver/2016/
• Virtual Hands On Labs- Tech Preview
  • Windows Server 2016
  • OMS Hybrid Management
  • Installing and Managing Nano Server
  • Managing Windows Server Containers with Docker
  • Managing Windows Server Containers with PowerShell
  • https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/virtuallabs/bb467605.aspx

 

Issue Alert

• Critical: issue in SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 that could crash your SQL server
  • https://blogs.msdn.com/b/axinthefield/archive/2013/10/31/sql-server-2012-service-pack-1-issue-that-could-crash-your-server.aspx
• Critical : Do NOT delete files from the Windows Installer folder. C:\windows\Installer is not a temporary folder and files in it should not be deleted. If you do it on machines on which you have SQL Server installed you may have to rebuild the operating system and reinstall SQL Server.
  • https://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlserverfaq/archive/2013/04/30/do-not-delete-files-from-the-windows-installer-folder.aspx
• Important: You must precede all Unicode strings with a prefix N when you deal with Unicode string constants in SQL Server
  • https://support.microsoft.com/kb/239530
• ODBC Driver 11 and above fails with Output parameter of type SQL_VARIANT
  • https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/dataaccesstechnologies/2016/06/29/odbc-driver-11-and-above-fails-with-output-parameter-of-type-sql_variant/

 

Fany Carolina Vargas | SQL Dedicated Premier Field Engineer | Microsoft Services