SQL 2008 Overview - updated

Many of the fundamentals of relational databases have not changed since Edgar Codd invented his famous rules. Despite this the database products on the market are still developing rapidly. Recently I had a look at the new version of Microsoft's SQL Server. SQL 2008 is due out later this year and offers some very interesting features. Whilst not as big a change as there was between SQL2000 and SQL2005 it is still a significant improvement.

Particular features that caught my eye include.

• Whole database encryption, including backups
• Support for native XML types - this was a feature of SQL2000 but further improvements have been made
• The full text search is now more closely integrated into the main product rather than executing separately
• ... plus a whole load of other areas - see the overview

Both SQL and IBM's DB2 have embraced the concept of XML object storage. This is a long way from the old style BLOB storage where the XML was an inert and passive element. Now that we can query and index right into the XML data a whole new set of possibilities are available. For example, imagine a system which needs to be able to store transactions which can vary. A few key, common fields can be stored relationally but the details of the transactions can be stored as XML. This means that a single table can hold many different types of transaction, including ones you haven't thought of yet. This is a very powerful way of building a system which is robust and less sensitive to change, surely one of the core goals of IT Architecture. It's no silver bullet and not ideal in every case but certainly worth considering.

Update - ZDNet have given an overview which goes a little broader - worth a read. http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/software/enterpriseapplications/0,1000001813,...