What is it?
Now that it has missed its own launch party, only the bravest
would stake their reputations on
when SQL Server 2008 will actually be with us. But even when it
starts to ship, widespread adoption is likely to take years. There
are still substantial numbers of SQL Server 2000 installations and
even SQL Server 7 users still happily chugging along with a product
released nearly ten years ago.
SQL Server has partly overcome its image as a departmental
database that yields to Oracle or DB2 in the datacentre. But as
analyst Gartner commented in its October 2007 report Data Warehouse
Database Management Systems: "Many IT organizations do not consider
SQL Server since they are not willing to run Windows Server in the
datacentre environment."
But Gartner adds that while early adopters of SQL Server 2005
used it for online transaction processing (OLTP), "now we see from
inquiries that SQL Server is also being used in data warehousing,
especially for databases up to 5TB or 6TB in size".
Where did it originate?
SQL Server originated as a joint development by Microsoft and
Sybase. By the launch of SQL Server 6.0 in 1995, the
partnership had been dissolved and Microsoft rewrote the base code.
Online analytical processing (OLAP) - a key data warehousing
component - was introduced with the GUI-based SQL Server 7.0.
What's it for?
SQL Server 2005 has its own SQL implementation, Transact-SQL
(T-SQL), with extensions that support XQuery for access to XML
data. Also included is the SQL Common Language Runtime (CLR) and
integration with
Visual Studio.net, which enables stored procedures and triggers
to be written in any .net language.
Until the "Plato" release of SQL Server 7.0, data warehouses had
to be built from best of breed products - extraction,
transformation and loading (ETL) tools, OLAP and reporting tools
- in what could often be a complex systems integration exercise.
SQL Server now comes bundled with its own ETL (SS Integration
Services, SSIS) OLAP and data mining (SS Analysis Services) and
reporting services.
Gartner says: "SQL Server 2005 scales from small warehouses to
mid-size ones without a great deal of effort." But Nigel Pendse,
author
of The Olap Report , warns: "Although Analysis Services offers
a greater scalability and new features, it is now a much more
technical product than its predecessor making the product more
suitable for professional developers, rather than end-users."
What makes it special?
Better integration with other Microsoft products means SQL
Server can provide a route for turning commodity skills into
premium skills, such as data warehousing.
How difficult is it to master?
Skills can be acquired inexpensively using online learning,
which typically involves six to eight two-hour courses per topic
(such as Writing Queries Using Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Transact-SQL). Microsoft provides a two-day introduction to
Transact-SQL for people who already have "an understanding of basic
relational database concepts". Experienced DBAs can take a
three-day course to move their skills to SQL Server.
What systems does it run on?
Gartner says: "SQL Server only runs on Windows Server, and
therefore lacks the portability of many of its competitors." But
once acquired, SQL skills are portable.
Rates of Pay
From £25-35k for developers and DBAs with a year's SQL Server
experience. £35-45k for data warehouse specialists. In each case,
less than equivalent DB2 and Oracle positions.
Training
Microsoft offers a
variety of training options.