Microsoft Delivers SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2

Microsoft issued an update this week to its SQL Server software that's completely interoperable with Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office suite. Microsoft also is offering licensing options with the new SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 that let companies run unlimited virtual instances of the software on servers in their virtualized environments.

SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 offers a number of features, including data mining add-ins for the 2007 Microsoft Office suite that allow SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) to work within both Excel 2007 and Visio 2007. The software also promises SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) compatibility with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, making it possible for SSRS reports to be used and managed within SharePoint.Microsoft says the new service pack offers data compression for data warehousing situations that demand less disk storage of decimal data and improve total performance. The company says the software also provides a number of manageability improvements to help database administrators maintain more stable environments and produce better management reports using a new database wizard.

SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 also offers Oracle support in the Report Builder feature that lets businesses use the SQL Server's capabilities with Oracle data sources.

Businesses can download SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 from http://www.microsoft.com/sql/sp2.mspx.

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