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On April 2012 Microsoft finally released the SQL Server 2012. The long anticipated database management software has got good reviews just few days after being released. The new SQL server 2012 offers new improved features that are useful for businesses to store, organize and secure vital data.
Let’s see several new key features in the SQL server 2012.
ColumnStore Indexes
For this feature, Microsoft gives an description as ‘ A columnstore index stores column in a separate set of disk pages, rather than storing multiple rows per page as data traditionally has been stored.’ with the query only request a few columns from the table, the operation becomes more efficient. It is said that the performance increases from 6x to 100x in cases where the data can be cached in RAM, and thousand-fold improvements where the working set does not fit in RAM.
BI Semantic Model
The Business Intelligence Semantic Model is one of the most significant enhancements in SQL Server 2012. BISM allows aspects of the traditional multidimensional model to coexist with the relational model in a format called the tabular model and can be used with all client tools in the Microsoft BI stack.
The tabular model has its roots in the relational model and can be easier to comprehend for users without a BI Development background.
Sequences Object
Sequences generated by the Sequence object are similar to identity property values; however, it is not tied to one table. Sequence object can be referenced by applications directly and can also be shared by many rows or many tables.
Big Data Support
The Hadoop integration with Microsoft has caught the attention of many SQL server developers. All are rushing to test how Hadoop can fit this data management system. Hadoop is believed can improve very large data-sets processing, basically at the OLTP side of a database architecture, pushing data to a relational-warehouse after the data has been cleansed and processed for storage.
There is more in SQL Server 2012 but the above is a starting point if you are wondering what it is all about. It is also worth noting that Microsoft still gives away SQL Server Express which supports up to 10GB per database and includes many of same features as the paid-for versions; it is the same product at heart.
