SQL Server 2000 (Shiloh) 32-bit, version 8, introduced SQL Server to the enterprise with clustering, much better performance,
and real OLAP. It supported XML though three different XML add-on packs. It added userdefined functions, indexed views, clustering support, Distributed Partition Views, and improved replication. SQL Server 2000 64-bit version for Intel Itanium (Liberty) was released in 2003, along with the first version of Reporting Services (Rosetta) and Data Mining tools (Aurum). DTS became more powerful and gained in popularity. Northwind joined Pubs as the sample database.
SQL Server 2005 (Yukon), version 9, was another rewrite of the Database Engine and pushed SQL Server further into the enterprise space. 2005 added a ton of new features and technologies, including Service Broker, Notification Services, CLR, XQuery and XML data types, and SQLOS. T-SQL gained try-catch and the system tables were replaced with Dynamic Management Views (DMVs). Management Studio replaced EnterpriseManager and Query Analyzer. DTS is replaced by Integration Services. English Query was removed, and stored procedure debugging was moved from the DBA interface to Visual Studio. AdventureWorks and AdventureWorksDW replaced Northwind and Pubs as the sample databases. SQL Server 2005 supported 32-bit, 64x, and Itanium CPUs. Steve Ballmer publically vowed to never again make customers wait five years between releases, and to return to a 2–3 year release cycle. My favorite new features? T-SQL Try-Catch, Index Include columns, VarChar(max), windowing/ranking
functions, and DMVs.
SQL Server 2008 (Katmai), version 10, is a natural evolution of SQL Server, adding Policy-BasedManagement,
data compression, Resource Governor, and new beyond relational data types. Notification Services go the way of English Query. T-SQL finally gets date and time data types and table-valued parameters, the debugger returns, and Management Studio gets IntelliSense. My favorite new features?
Table-valued parameters and policy-based management.
You will learn and practice SQL Server system administration skills with the assistance of interactive tools.