Service Pack Delivers Database Mirroring

SQL Server 2005 SP1 delivers two new features that did not make the product’s Nov. 2005 release. Database mirroring, included in higher-end editions of SQL Server 2005, gives administrators a simpler failover solution than the Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) used to support redundancy and failover in previous versions. However, SQL Server 2005 continues to support clustering, so organizations will need to decide which method best meets their requirements. In addition, the SP delivers some bug fixes, and SQL Server’s free, entry-level Express Edition gets a new management utility and a pair of features previously available only in higher-end editions.

Service Pack Fixes Broad Problems

Arriving about six months after the Nov. 2005 release of SQL Server 2005, SP1 contains a relatively small number of fixes—the Knowledge Base article outlining SP1 lists 47 documented fixes. (In contrast, SQL Server 2000 SP1 was released seven months after SQL Server 2000 shipped and contained nearly 300 bug fixes.) Documented fixes correspond to bugs for which hotfixes were released. Other bugs of a less severe nature are also fixed in SP1; however, Microsoft has not provided any public documentation for these fixes.