微软SQL Server 2008 R2是SQL Server的最新版本。本文将介绍SQL Server 2008 R2的十大功能和优势。 虽然“R2”标签表明这是SQL Server的一个中间版本，而不是一个主版本。但是，对数据库管理员(DBA)和开发人员来说，依然有许多有趣的新功能。在本文发表时，R2处于社区技术预览版阶段（CTP）。 除了新功能，还有两个新版本，它们是SQL Server 2008 R2 Datacenter(数据中心版)和SQL Server 2008 R2 Parallel Data Warehouse(并行数据仓库版)。
=====================================
Introduction
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 is the latest release of SQL Server. This article will introduce the top 10 features and benefits of SQL Server 2008 R2. The “R2” tag indicates this is an intermediate release of SQL Server and not a major revision. However, there are a number of interesting new features for both DBAs and developers alike. At the time of this article, R2 is available as a CTP (Community Technology Preview). In addition to new features, there are two new editions as well, SQL Server 2008 R2 Datacenter and SQL Server 2008 R2 Parallel Data Warehouse.
======================================
1.报表生成器3.0
报表生成器是开发丰富报表的工具集,并且可以发布到Web上。通过报表生成器可以创建包含图形，图表，表格以及打印控件的报表。此外，报表生成器还支持钻取(数据挖掘中的词汇)和排序。如果您熟悉水晶报表这种第三方工具，那么就可以使用报表生成器达成您美好的目标。
SQL 2008 R2 /报表生成器3.0的新功能包括：1、地图层，它能够支撑空间和分析数据，并且可以喝微软的虚拟地球(Virtual Earth)整合在一起。2、指示器(Indicators)，用来指示报表中值的状态。3、报表部件(Report Parts)，这个对象可以在多个报表中实现重用或共享。4、聚合计算(Aggregate Calculating)，使您可以计算其它聚合计算结果的汇总值。
=====================================
Report Builder 3.0
Report Builder is a tool set for developing rich reports that can be delivered over the web. Some of the features of Report Builder include the ability to create reports containing graphs, charts, tables, and printing controls. In addition, Report Builder also supports drill downs and sorting. If you are familiar with the third party tool Crystal Reports, then you have good idea of what to expect from Report Builder.
New features in SQL 2008 R2 / Report Builder 3.0 include: Map Layers, which can hold spatial and analytical data and will integrate with Microsoft Virtual Earth. Indicators, these are gauges used to show the state of one value. Report Parts, this object can be reused or shared between multiple reports. Aggregate Calculating, this allows you to calculate the total value of other aggregate calculated totals.
=====================================
2. SQL Server 2008 R2 Datacenter (数据中心版)
SQL Server 2008 R2 Datacenter数据中心版本的目标是：那些需要一个更高性能平台的企业版用户。新版本将支持256个逻辑处理器，更多的实例，并像操作系统那样支持更多的内存。
====================================
SQL Server 2008 R2 Datacenter
The new Datacenter edition of SQL Server 2008 R2 is targeted towards Enterprise Edition users who require a greater performance platform. The new edition will support 256 logical processors, high numbers of instances, and as much memory as the operating system will support.
====================================
3. SQL Server 2008 R2 Parallel Data Warehouse (并行数据仓库)
另一个新的SQL Server版本，并行数据仓库，正式代号为“Madison” （麦迪逊），主要用于大数据量的处理。这个版本使用大规模并行处理，可以将大表分散到多个SQL节点。这些节点是由Microsoft专利技术Ultra Shared Nothing(超共享）合理控制的。 这项新技术可以描述为:将一个查询均匀分布到各个计算机节点上，然后再从各个节点收集计算结果。
=====================================
SQL Server 2008 R2 Parallel Data Warehouse
Another new SQL Server edition, Parallel Data Warehouse, formally codenamed “Madison”, specializes in handling extremely large amounts of data. This new version uses massively parallel processing to spread large tables over multiple SQL nodes. The multiple nodes are handled by a propriety Microsoft technology called Ultra Shared Nothing. This new technology is described as a Control Node spreading queries to Computer Nodes, evenly distributed, then collecting the results.
=====================================
4.StreamInsight
SQL Server 2008 R2中出现了一个新组件，叫做StreamInsight，这个有趣的组件允许在运行中分析流数据，也就是直接从源数据流进行处理，然后再保存到数据表中。如果你的系统是一个实时系统，这个功能就非常非常的有用，因为实时系统需要分析数据，但又不能引起数据写入时的延迟，一些常见的例子如股票交易数据流，Web点击分析流和工业处理控制，可以同时监控多个输入数据流。
=====================================
StreamInsight
New in SQL Server 2008 R2 is component called StreamInsight. This interesting component allows streaming data to be analyzed on the fly. Meaning the data is processed directly from the source stream prior to being saved in a SQL Server table. This could be extremely handy if you’re running a real time system and need to analyze data but can’t afford the latency of a committed write to a table first. Examples usually cited for this application include stock trading streams, click stream web analytics, and industrial process controls. Multiple input streams can be simultaneously monitored.
=====================================
5.主数据服务
主数据服务(Master Data Services，MDS)既是一个概念又是一个产品，主数据服务的概念是对核心业务数据有一个集中的数据入口看守人，数据项如客户账单地址，雇员/客户姓名，以及产品名称应该集中管理，以便让所有消费应用系统都具有相同的信息。微软提供了一个示例，在customer表中记录了一个顾客地址，但在mailing表中记录了一个不同的地址。主数据服务应用程序可以保证所有表只有一个正确的地址，而一个MDS可以是一个本地应用程序，SQL Server 2008 R2包括一个应用程序和一个接口管理核心数据。
=====================================
Master Data Services
Master Data Services (MDS) is both a concept and a product. The concept of a Master Data Service is that there is a central data gate keeper of core business data. Data items such as customer billing addresses, employee/customer names, and product names should be centrally managed so that all consuming applications have the same information. The Microsoft example given is a company that has a customer address record in the customer table but a different address in the mailing table. A Master Data Service application would ensure that all tables would have only one correct address. While an MDS can be a homegrown application, SQL Server 2008 R2 includes an application and an interface to manage the central data.
=====================================
6.PowerPivot for SharePoint
PowerPivot是一个终端用户工具，它与SharePoint，SQL Server 2008 R2和Excel 2010联合使用，可以在几秒内处理大量数据，PowerPivot的作用有点像Excel中的数据透视表，提供了分析功能。
====================================
PowerPivot for SharePoint
PowerPivot is an end-user tool that works in conjunction with SharePoint, SQL Server 2008 R2, and Excel 2010 to process large amounts of data in seconds. PowerPivot works like an Excel Pivot Table, and includes analytical capabilities.
====================================
7.数据层应用
数据层应用(Data-Tier Application，缩写为DAC，不知道C代表什么含义，不要与Windows数据访问组件混淆了，因为它的缩写也是DAC)是一个对象，它可以为一个工程存储所有需要的数据库信息，如登录，表和Visual Studio可以使用的存储过程。通过创建一个数据层应用，SQL Server包版本和每个Visual Studio编译版本一起保存，也就是可以将应用程序和数据库构建成一个统一的版本，方便后期维护和管理。
====================================
Data-Tier Application
A Data-Tier Application (abbreviated as DAC –no idea what the C stands for, and not to be confused with the Windows Data Access Components also abbreviated as DAC ) is an object that stores all the needed database information for a project, such as login, tables, and procedures into one package that can be consumed by Visual Studio. By creating a Data-Tier Application, a SQL Server package version could be saved with each Visual Studio build of your application. This would allow application code builds to be married to a database build in an easily managed way.
====================================
8.Unicode压缩
SQL Server 2008 R2使用一个新的算法，为Unicode存储提供了一个简单的压缩方案，通过Unicode压缩，可以减少Unicode字符对空间的占用，它由SQL Server引擎自动管理，因此不需要修改现有应用程序，DBA也无须做任何干涉。
====================================
Unicode Compression
SQL Server 2008 R2 uses a new algorithm known as Simple Compression Scheme for Unicode storage. This reduces the amount of disk spaced used by Unicode characters. This new format happens automatically and is managed by the SQL Server engine so no programming changes are required of the DBA.
====================================
9.SQL Server Utility
新的SQL Server Utility是一个集中控制多个SQL Server实例的仓库对象，性能数据和配置策略可以存储在一个单一的Utility中，Utility也包括一个资源管理器工具，可以创建多个服务器仪表板。
====================================
SQL Server Utility
The new SQL Server Utility is a repository object for centrally controlling multiple SQL Server instances. Performance data and configuration policies can be stored in a single Utility. The Utility also includes an Explorer tool where multi-server dashboards can be created.
====================================
10.多服务器仪表板
虽然SQL Server Management Studio也可以连接到多个服务器，但不能在一个集中的视图上查看所有的数据库，每个数据库服务器需要独立管理，在SQL Server 2008 R2中，可以创建同时显示多个服务器的仪表板。
====================================
Multi Server Dashboards
While the SQL Server Management Studio could always connection to multiple servers, each was managed independently with no central view of all of them. Now with SQL Server 2008 R2, Dashboards showing combined server data can be created.