SQL SERVER – 2014 Announced and SQL Server 2014 Datasheet

Earlier this week Microsoft has announced SQL Server 2014. The release date of Trial of SQL Server to be believed later this year.

Here are few of the improvements which I was looking forward are there in this release. Please note this is not the exhaustive list of the features of SQL Server 2014. This is the a quick note on the features which I was looking forward and now will be available in this release.

Always On supports now 8 secondaries instead of 4
Online Indexing at partition level – this is a good thing as now index rebuilding can be done at a partition level
Statistics at the partition level – this will be a huge improvement in performance
In-Memory OLTP works by providing in-application memory storage for the most often used tables in SQL Server. (Read More Here)
Columnstore Index can be updated – I just can’t wait for this feature (Columnstore Index)
Resource Governor can control IO along with CPU and Memory
Increase performance by extending SQL Server in-memory buffer pool to SSDs
Backup to Azure Storage

You can additionally download SQL Server 2014 Datasheet from here. Which is your favorite new feature of SQL Server 2014?

SQL Server 2014 bits are now available!

SQL Server 2014 enables customers to build mission-critical applications and Big Data solutions using high-performance, in-memory technology across OLTP, data warehousing, business intelligence and analytics workloads without having to buy expensive add-ons or high-end appliances. SQL Server 2014 uses a common set of tools to deploy and manage databases both on-premises and in the cloud, which makes it easier for customers to take advantage of the cloud with existing skills.

Download the bits and learn more

SQL Server 2014 bits

Top 3 features in SQL Server 2014

Mission-critical performance

SQL Server 2014 accelerates mission critical applications with a new in-memory OLTP engine that can deliver on average 10x, and up to 30x transactional performance gains. For Data Warehousing, the new updatable in-memory columnstore can query more than 100x faster than SQL Server 2008 R2. SQL Server also delivers peace of mind with the most secure database five years in a row.* (National Institute of Standards and Technology Comprehensive Vulnerability Database 4/17/2013, Market share from IDC 2013)

Faster insights on any data

Get to insights faster with a complete BI platform that speeds up how you access, analyze, clean and shape both internal and external data. With SQL Server 2014 and Power BI for Office 365, it is easy to connect every user in an organization to the right data they need to make better decisions, faster.

Platform for hybrid cloud

SQL Server 2014 was designed to work in a hybrid environment that spans on-premises and the cloud and has new tools that make it even easier to build back-up and disaster recovery solutions with Windows Azure. These tools provide an easy on-ramp to the cloud for on-premises SQL Server databases, enabling customers to use their existing skills to take advantage of Microsoft’s global datacenters.