April 08, 2009, 3:06 PM — Microsoft Wednesday released a preview of the first service pack for SQL Server 2008, improving deployment tools but adding no new features to the software.
Service Pack 1 is a collection of cumulative updates and is available at Microsoft's Web site. Microsoft released a preview of SP1 in late February.
SP1 adheres to Microsoft's practice of not including new features in service packs, but the company has added enhancements to more efficiently deploy and manage service packs.
Included in the service pack are improvements to Slipstream, which lets users install the server software and the updates as part of a single step. SP1 also includes a ClickOnce version of Report Builder 2.0, which works with Reporting Services (SSRS) installed in native mode or SharePoint integrated mode. Microsoft has issued a description of the install options. Users with SSRS installed in the SharePoint mode, will need to install Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Report Builder 2.0 ClickOnce for SharePoint. The add-in will make ClickOnce available from a SharePoint site.
In addition, users can now uninstall SQL Server 2008 cumulative updates or service packs from the "Programs and Features" in the Windows Control Panel.
Microsoft is positioning SQL Server 2008 as the underlying database in its plans to offer high-end data warehousing appliances as part of its Madison project.
In February, the company released SQL Server Fast Track Data Warehouse, a set of reference configurations that are a result of last year's DataAllegro acquisition.
DataAllegro developed large-volume data warehousing appliances, and Microsoft hopes to scale Madison to handle hundreds of terabytes of data using SQL Server as the underlying database engine.
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