By Chris Alliegro [bio]
Posted: Dec. 26, 2005

• Illustration: SQL Server 2005 TPC-C Benchmarks

The following is the full text of an article published by Directions on Microsoft, an independent research firm focused exclusively on Microsoft strategy & technology. Each month we make one or more key articles available to non-subscribers.

Improvements to SQL Server as a database management system fall into three primary categories:

• Manageability enhancements that will increase the productivity of database administrators and boost its ease of use, which is one of SQL Server's main advantages over competitors such as IBM and Oracle in the database market for small and midsize companies
• New server-side database programming features that could increase developer productivity, improve the stability of database applications, and compete with Java, which IBM and Oracle support for server-side programming.
• New features in SQL Server's high-end edition will help customers improve the scalability, performance, and availability of mission-critical databases and the applications that use them; in addition, these features could help Microsoft wrest market share from IBM and Oracle in the enterprise database market.

SQL Server 2005 is the product's most ambitious release to date and carries some risk for customers, partners, and Microsoft itself. For example, despite the promise of improved productivity, developers and administrators versed in existing tools such as SQL Server Enterprise Manager and Query Analyzer face a learning curve to gain proficiency with SQL Server 2005's overhauled management features. The advantage of SQL Server 2005's new developer features will likewise be realized only after a certain amount of training for database developers and architects, and using these features incorrectly could hurt the performance of database applications. Finally, several factors could frustrate Microsoft and its partners' attempts to gain ground in the enterprise market: SQL Server is currently a distant third to IBM and Oracle in enterprise revenue, many of SQL Server's high-end features already exist in competitors' products, and recent benchmarks show SQL Server 2005 trailing IBM and Oracle in raw database performance.

The SQL Server Database Management System

SQL Server is built around a central engine for storing, managing, and retrieving data within relational databases—(which are groups of related data tables and the associated information describing how those tables are related). The database engine is supported by services and utilities used to administer, manage, and query databases, and data access libraries that enable applications to communicate with the database engine. SQL Server also includes utilities for replicating and synchronizing copies of data on multiple sites or systems.

Database management systems are used nearly ubiquitously to store, track, and manage all manner of corporate data. Among other uses, database management systems are the central component of the following:

• Enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications, which companies use to record and manage critical business data, such as purchase orders and other transactions, inventory, and employee information
• Data warehouses, which are (typically large) databases containing historical business data organized to aid in decision-making
• Internet and intranet Web applications that display, record, or track frequently changed data; for example, e-commerce sites use databases to store product information and track purchase orders
• Many standard network services, such as Windows Active Directory, which store information (such as user accounts and security policies) in databases
• Many third-party applications, which use databases to store a wide range of information, such as user and application data.

Database Engine Enhancements in SQL Server 2005

SQL Server 2005 delivers new management tools and features, improved developer features and integration with the .NET Framework and Visual Studio, improved support for Web services, and scalability and availability improvements in the product's high-end edition. Collectively, these updates strengthen the product as a database management system for small and midsize companies and could help ongoing Microsoft efforts to gain ground in the enterprise market.

Among many changes in SQL Server 2005, highlights include the following:

Better control for administrators. SQL Server 2005 offers several manageability enhancements that will simplify and streamline many day-to-day database maintenance tasks and activities. For example, a new consolidated management suite subsumes the functions of many stand-alone tools from previous versions of the product, and improvements to SQL Server's backup utility could make it an attractive alternative to costly third-party utilities. Along with the obvious benefits for SQL Server database administrators, these enhancements could further boost SQL Server's ease-of-use advantage over IBM and Oracle, which could thwart those companies' attempts to move downmarket.

Better tools for developers. SQL Server 2005 will integrate the .NET Framework's Common Language Runtime (CLR) and offer native support for XML and Web services. Integration of the .NET Framework could improve the stability of business systems that depend heavily on custom server-side database code (as many financial and billing systems do) and increase the productivity of developers building such systems by letting them create database-resident logic with Visual Studio 2005, using VB.NET or C#. SQL Server 2005's developer enhancements could also boost the .NET Framework's standing as an enterprise application development platform and help Microsoft drive the adoption of XML and Web services for business-to-business data exchange. With Visual Studio 2005's sophisticated development environment and tool set, SQL Server 2005 offers a compelling alternative to using Java to program competing databases, such as IBM's DB2 and Oracle.

Higher availability, better scale and performance. Enhancements in the product's high-end edition could close the gap between SQL Server and rivals IBM and Oracle in the enterprise database market, where Microsoft trails in revenue despite being the leader in overall database unit sales. For example, a new mechanism for partitioning databases in SQL Server 2005 will improve the performance and manageability of large databases, such as data warehouses. A new database mirroring feature, scheduled for release in the first half of 2006, will offer enterprise customers a simpler, less costly alternative to failover support using the Microsoft Cluster Service. With its focus on scale, performance, and availability, SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition could help Microsoft change the revenue equation in the enterprise database market.

Advancing the Franchise

For Microsoft and its partners, these enhancements are important to support one of the company's most valuable server products. SQL Server generates more than US$1 billion in revenue for the Microsoft Server and Tools division and consistently posts double-digit annual revenue growth, and it leads the database market in units sold. It has been particularly successful with small and midsize companies, whose purchase decisions are often driven by cost and ease-of-use considerations. Manageability and developer enhancements in SQL Server 2005 will likely strengthen the product's standing in this market and could present a major hurdle to Oracle's attempts to move downmarket.

With its nearly complete dominance of the database midmarket, Microsoft has increasingly set its sights on other markets and opportunities to keep SQL Server sales growing. Among several strategies, the company has focused on improving database engine performance and scalability and adding features to maximize database uptime in an attempt to gain ground in the lucrative enterprise database market, which is currently dominated (from a revenue standpoint) by IBM and Oracle. SQL Server 2005 continues Microsoft's bid to establish SQL Server as a credible enterprise database-management system and could help the company further chip away at the lead enjoyed by IBM and Oracle. For example, performance benchmarks posted by the Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC) show that SQL Server 2005 outperforms its predecessor on both the TPC-H benchmark, which simulates queries against a large decision support database (such as a data warehouse), and the TPC-C benchmark, which simulates transactions in an online transaction processing (OLTP) database, such as an order-processing database.

(For a summary of recently published TPC-C benchmarks, see the illustration "SQL Server 2005 TPC-C Benchmarks".)

Challenges for Customers, Partners, Microsoft

Although new features in SQL Server 2005 will benefit developers and IT staff, the release has some catches for customers, partners, and Microsoft itself. Some significant caveats include the following:

Learning curves for administrators and developers. Developers and administrators versed in existing SQL Server management tools, such as Enterprise Manager and Query Analyzer, will need some time and training to gain proficiency with SQL Server 2005's overhauled management tools. Likewise, making effective use of SQL Server 2005's new developer features, such as the ability to write database-resident logic in .NET languages, and scalability features, such as table partitioning, will require training for database developers and architects. Properly used, these features will make developers more productive, improve the performance and manageability of databases, and enable more stable database applications. However, misapplication of these features could hurt database performance.

Some features delayed. Some of SQL Server 2005's most anticipated features were not delivered with its initial release in Nov. 2005. For example, SQL Server 2005's promised database mirroring feature, which supports high availability, did not make the Nov. 2005 cut. (Customers can access the feature for testing purposes, but Microsoft does not support its use in a production environment.) A new management tool for SQL Server Express Edition, the replacement for the Microsoft Desktop Engine (MSDE), was also delayed. Microsoft has not provided availability dates or identified ship vehicles for these features but has said that both will be available to SQL Server 2005 customers in the first half of 2006.

Playing catch-up in the enterprise. Microsoft and its partners will continue to face a stiff challenge when going toe-to-toe with IBM and Oracle in the enterprise database market: SQL Server 2005 brings the product closer to parity with its main rivals but does not give Microsoft a competitive edge from a strictly functional or performance standpoint. For example, many of the scalability and high-availability enhancements in SQL Server 2005 already exist in its competitors' products. IBM and Oracle support features similar to SQL Server's failover clustering, database mirroring, and table partitioning, and those companies' products and features are more mature in many cases. In addition, SQL Server 2005 has yet to post benchmarks that rival the raw performance of IBM's and Oracle's latest database releases. Although SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition closes many of the gaps, Microsoft and its partners could face a tough sell in situations where cost takes a backseat to raw performance and sophisticated features.

What's Ahead

This report will orient IT professionals and developers on the major administrative, developer, high-availability, and scalability enhancements in the SQL Server 2005 database engine. It focuses on improvements to SQL Server as a database management system; a separate Sept. 2005 Research Report, "SQL Server 2005: Microsoft's Business Intelligence Platform," describes enhancements to the SQL Server 2005 business intelligence platform. This report includes material previously published in Update and contains the following major sections:

Consolidated Tool Set Leads Management Changes describes SQL Server 2005 manageability enhancements in SQL Server 2005, including a new consolidated tool set based on Visual Studio.

SQL Server Gets .NET, XML describes SQL Server 2005's integration with the .NET Framework's Common Language Runtime (CLR), which will allow developers to create database-resident logic in VB.NET or C#, and new native support for XML and Web services.

High-Availability Features Target Enterprises outlines new high-availability features in SQL Server Enterprise Edition that could help Microsoft close the gap between SQL Server and rivals IBM and Oracle in the enterprise database market.

Improved Features for Large Databases describes SQL Server 2005's new table partitioning feature, improvements to replication, and other performance enhancements; these changes will improve the performance and manageability of large SQL Server databases, such as data warehouses.

Caveats and Considerations. This section highlights some of the challenges customers and partners may face when working with or upgrading to SQL Server 2005.

Resources contains links and pointers to additional information about SQL Server 2005.

Appendix: SQL Server 2005 Availability, Pricing, and Packaging describes changes in pricing and licensing for SQL Server 2005 and maps important database features to SQL Server 2005 editions.