Top Ten Christmas Lists for SQL Server 2012

Santa or Scrooge for SQL Server 2012?

As 2011 winds down, I am looking forward to 2012. It’s another big year for Microsoft with SQL Server 2012 due to be released in the first half of next year. Looking at the
new features, the glass is either half full or half empty. With this in mind, I have produced two lists this year, one for Santa and one for Scrooge.

Top Ten Santa list for SQL Server 2012

1. HA/DR with AlwaysOn. (Automatic Failover with
multiple secondaries and load balancing)

2. Column-Store Indexes (Massive column
compression for high performing DW)

3. Contained Databases (No more orphan users!)

4. FileTable storage (Filestream data with easy
updates from NTFS)

5. SSIS Server and Catalog (Usability and manageability - SSIS comes of age!)

6. BISM Tabular Models (Vertipaq with PowerPivot GUI and DAX for developers too)

7. Power View (Self Service BI Reporting)

8. Data Alerting (Receive an alert based on data changes)

9. Data Quality Services (Data Cleansing and de-duplication)

10. Distributed Replay (Realistic replay of a trace across multiple servers)

Top Ten Scrooge List for SQL Server 2012

1. Data Alerting requires Reporting Services in SharePoint mode

2. Power View also requires Sharepoint Integrated Mode

3. AlwaysOn AG requires Windows Clustering Service on each node

4. Column-Store Indexes require Enterprise edition or above

5. SQL Audit available in all editions but only Server level Audits for SE and below

6. Cannot switch a model between BISM Tabular and MD OLAP

7. DAX editor only in BIDS not in SSMS

8. MD OLAP still supported…but for how long?

9. Database Snapshot still requires Enterprise edition or above

10. And finally…Licensing by the Core not the Socket. Bah Humbug!

Which one are you? Take your pick
and have a great holiday season!

Cheers

Brian

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