SQL Server adds reliability

Abstract

On the enterprise side, Microsoft has added Data Transformation Services (DTS) that import data from any ODBC-compliant data source and deposit it into any other ODBC-compliant database, and while the company Would prefer that SQL Server be on at least one of those ends, it doesn't need to be. The OLE DB-based DTS can be used simply as a transport and transformation mechanism and replaces the Bulk Copy tool in 6.5.

Most of the noise around SQL Server 7.0 has been made around its on-line analytical processing (OLAP) capabilities. The OLAP Services Administrator and Client support several flavours of OLAP including ROLAP, HOLAP and MOLAP and write to the OLE DB for OLAP interface specification.

Geoff Belair, platform architect at Prologic Corp. in Richmond, B.C., doesn't have any such concerns. Prologic bases its business on Microsoft products and, according to Belair, it doesn't have any concerns about the scalability of NT or SQL Server. Belair also likes the Management Console and the automated management functions.

Tired of getting sand kicked in its face by the bigger database vendors, Microsoft's SQL Server is trying to jump up a category from 98-pound weakling status into the Charles Atlas enterprise database class.

The latest release, SQL Server 7.0, has even added a few basic features that were noticeably missing in previous versions.

"Yes, SQL Server 7.0 now has row-level locking. We used to get pretty beat up for not having that," explained Michael McKee. McKee, marketing manager, database servers for Microsoft Canada Co., stressed the scalability, performance and reliability of the latest version of SQL Server.

"We've increased the performance significantly over SQL Server 6.5," McKee said. "We can blow away the competition with anything on NT, even with the beta code, which is not finely performance-tuned yet. In terms of support for high-end systems, we have functionality into the terabyte range."

Part of Microsoft's strategy is to market to both ends of the SQL Server customer range by supporting large, complex databases and smaller-scale implementations.

On the enterprise side, Microsoft has added Data Transformation Services (DTS) that import data from any ODBC-compliant data source and deposit it into any other ODBC-compliant database, and while the company Would prefer that SQL Server be on at least one of those ends, it doesn't need to be. The OLE DB-based DTS can be used simply as a transport and transformation mechanism and replaces the Bulk Copy tool in 6.5.

Other changes from SQL Server 6.5 designed to appeal to enterprise-class users are basic capacity increases. Page size, for example, has gone from 2KB to 8KB and the number of columns per row has increased from 250 to 1,024, with the row size upped from 1,962 to 8,060 bytes per row.

Most of the noise around SQL Server 7.0 has been made around its on-line analytical processing (OLAP) capabilities. The OLAP Services Administrator and Client support several flavours of OLAP including ROLAP, HOLAP and MOLAP and write to the OLE DB for OLAP interface specification.

It is this functionality that causes Carl Olofson, research director, application development tools and database products at International Data Corp. (IDC) in Framingham, Mass., to say that this release changes the way businesses look at OLAP.

"They've taken a bunch of OLAP tools and bundled them with the product and by doing that they've changed the value proposition of OLAP and made it more attractive."

Olofson said this version will convince people that a Microsoft database is capable of supporting enterprise applications.

Ed Schaider, vice-president of the Standish Group in Los Gatos, Calif., however, isn't as easily convinced. "This is just warmed-over SQL Server 6.5. It's important for Microsoft to make a big deal out of the release, because they want to get into the enterprise space, but they are tooting the horn louder than they should be. The fundamental problem remains that the underlying operating system doesn't scale, so that means that you'd be trying to scale the database on an unscalable OS."

IDC's Olofson was generally pleased with the 7.0 version, but he had a few concerns. Acknowledging that automated tuning and management features are a blessing for small and mid-sized businesses with limited IT resources, he cautions large enterprises against relying too heavily on automation, because they need to plan their growth and expansion.

Geoff Belair, platform architect at Prologic Corp. in Richmond, B.C., doesn't have any such concerns. Prologic bases its business on Microsoft products and, according to Belair, it doesn't have any concerns about the scalability of NT or SQL Server. Belair also likes the Management Console and the automated management functions.

"With SQL 7.0 we can manage by exception. In SQL Server 6.5 there were a lot of knobs to turn in order to set the parameters at peak efficiency," he said.

As of press time, pricing for SQL Server 70 (www.microsoft.com/sql) had not been released. Microsoft Canada Co. in Mississauga, Ont., is at [phone].