For the first time, natively, you can connect to your SQL Server 2008 spatial database right from MapPoint and pull in the respective fields, filtering data to be visualized in MapPoint 2009.
The MapPoint Add-In for SQL Server can be downloaded for free from the Microsoft Downloads Center.
Source: Bing Community
Effective immediately, SQL Services will be called Microsoft SQL Azure, and SQL Data Services will be Microsoft SQL Azure Database.
Confused? Well, in order to make sure that everything is understood correctly:
Microsoft SQL Azure is a building block of the Azure platform, delivering on the Microsoft Data Platform vision of extending the SQL Server capabilities to the cloud as web-based services, enabling you to store structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data. Microsoft SQL Azure will deliver a rich set of integrated services that enable you to perform relational queries, search, reporting, analytics, integration and synchronize data with mobile users, remote offices and business partners. More information about Microsoft SQL Azure is available on Microsoft.com.
Microsoft SQL Azure Database, a component of the SQL Azure “platform”, is a cloud-based relational database platform built on SQL Server technologies. With SQL Azure Database, you can easily provision and deploy relational database solutions to the cloud, and take advantage of a globally distributed data center that provides enterprise-class availability, scalability, and security with the benefits of built-in data protection, self-healing and disaster recovery. More information about Microsoft SQL Azure Database is available on Microsoft.com.
Microsoft is expected to release a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of SQL Azure Database very soon, at the Worldwide Partners Conference 2009 (WPC09), July 13-16 in New Orleans.
Stay tuned to this blog for more information about SQL Azure, WPC, Microsoft Technologies and more.
Source: Technet Blogs
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2, available in CTP this summer, will provide the following benefits:
Increase in the number of logical processors supported from 64 up to 256. This will provide customers with more choices for obtaining single system scalability with high performance.
Dashboard viewpoints provide insight into utilization and policy violations to help identify consolidation opportunities, maximize investments and maintain healthy systems.
Through new extensions in SQL Server Management Studio, organizations will gain insights into their growing applications and databases and help ensure higher service levels through policies and dashboard viewpoints.
Streamline Application Lifecycle Management through integration with Visual Studio. A new project type enables a single unit of management for packaging database schema with application requirements. This ensures higher quality application development while also accelerating deployments, moves, and changes over time.
Centralized approach to defining, deploying, and managing master data can ensure reporting consistency across systems and deliver faster more accurate results across the enterprise.
Comprehensive management thru Microsoft SharePoint 2010 gives IT the ability to manage and secure all BI assets, thus freeing the original authors to focus on the priorities of the business.
SharePoint 2010 Management Console
Provides a single, comprehensive management tool through Microsoft SharePoint 2010 that gives IT administrators the ability to set server policies and monitor Self Service BI activities
IT can manage and secure all BI assets, freeing the original authors to focus on business priorities
Dashboard views to monitor access and utilization of analyses and reports as well as track patterns of hardware usage to help ensure the right security privileges are applied and user generated solutions are continuously available, up-to-date, and secured
Decrease time and costs developing reports by giving users the ability to design their own queries, reports and charts through powerful and intuitive authoring and ad hoc reporting capabilities.
New support for geospatial visualization can produce new insights and discoveries when geospatial data is combined with corporate data for reporting and analysis.
With the in-memory analytics add-in for Microsoft Excel 2010, business users can quickly access, analyze and summarize vast amounts of data directly in Excel without the assistance of the IT department.
New “data mash up” capabilities will simplify time consuming data gathering and consolidation tasks. Integrate data from multiple sources, including corporate databases and external sources, using powerful tools within Microsoft Excel.
New collaboration tools make it easy to share analytic applications and reports through Microsoft Office SharePoint, where they are refreshed automatically, maintained, and made accessible to others.
Source: Microsoft.com
During the summer of 2009, Microsoft will offer a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of SQL Server 2008 R2. Users can sign up now to receive an email notification of the availability of the CTP.
Source: Microsoft.com
