Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 - with comprehensive self-service BI solutions

With SQL Server 2018 or its successor release SQL 2008 R2, companies as well as individual users receive a powerful database solution to make all relevant data available everywhere and at any time - for local applications as well as for websites. Thanks to its high scalability, SQL Server 2008 also meets the requirements of large organizations and companies for wide-ranging applications. The integrated data warehouse and business intelligence functions also enable comprehensive data integration - for differentiated analyses as well as predictive models and reports. Developers have multiple options when deploying these SQL Server versions with PHP, ASP as well as Windows.

Microsoft's functional BI solution is based on the 3 pillars of data warehouses (DWH), data mining and online analytical processing (OLAP), which are complemented by various analysis specifications and practical visualizations. In SQL Server 2008 R2, business intelligence capabilities are further enhanced by OLAP-optimized Power Pivot, Report Builder and other performance tools.

Cross-platform data processing is supported by seamless integration of Visual Studio and ASP.NET. This gives you everything you need to gain a competitive edge over the competition.

Typical SQL Server 2008 services include

• Reporting Services
• Analysis Services
• Integration Services
• SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) and
• Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) with Object Linking and Embedding (OLEDB)

The 2008 version of SQL Server also offers several improvements in terms of security: Strong, transparent data encryption features such as Transparent Data Encryption protect data from loss or theft, shielding both data tables and log files from unauthorized access. These features are complemented by a new monitoring system with strong user authentication, where user data can be stored in SQL Server or Active Directory.

Similarly, administrators will appreciate many new functions and features in SQL Server 2008. In particular, SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS): It provides an integrated environment for development as well as configuration and management of individual SQL Server components. SSMS is supported by Visual Studio, so that the available graphical tools also allow for a particularly vivid presentation.

At Wiresoft, you will find not only SQL Server 2008, but also its successor, SQL Server 2008 R2, in various editions - among which you are sure to find the SQL Server solution best suited to your needs. Already the 2008 version covers many Business Intelligence applications of smaller companies. And with a 2008 R2 edition, larger companies also have a particularly powerful server product on their hands that can be flexibly adapted thanks to its scalable functions.

SQL Server 2008 R2 - even more business intelligence for your company

Compared to its predecessor, the SQL version 2008 R2 primarily brings improvements in BI functions to provide even better support for SharePoint 2010 and Office 2010 in particular. The most important goal is still the provision of comprehensive self-service BI solutions in companies in order to meet the increasingly complex requirements regarding data analysis and provision. SQL Server 2008 R2 also provides enhanced connectivity between SQL Azure Server and individual BI tools. SQL Server 2008 R2's highly scalable BI platform includes the following services, which include enhanced functionality as well as new features:

• Analysis Services (SSAS)
• Integration Services (SSIS)
• Reporting Services (SSRS)
• Master Data Services (MDS)
• Data Mining and Data Warehousing
• Service Broker
• StreamInsight
• Report Builder V3.0

Below you will find more information about the individual Business Intelligence features for SQL Server 2008 R2.

SSAS for SQL Server 2008 R2

The Analysis Services are the basis for all reports as well as OLAP analysis and data mining. SSAS offers an integrated, uniform view of all business data. Supplemented by Online Analytical Processing (OLAP), these can be analyzed from different aspects - such as hierarchies, dimensions as well as drill-downs or drill-ups - and displayed as a cube.

For this purpose, PowerPivot for Excel 2010 is also available as an add-in for SSAS in conjunction with the Office Suite 2010. This means that even large amounts of data can be imported from the data warehouse and analyzed. In addition to various optimizations, PowerPivot also contains functional enhancements, such as the supported field search for names and named sets. Relationships between unrelated tables in a pivot table can also be detected. These PowerPivot analyses and reports can be made available to other employees via the SharePoint Document Libraries and updated on an ongoing basis.

Integration Services (SSIS)

The SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), already known from earlier SQL Server versions, are also available in the SQL 2008 R2 release. They form the three cornerstones for all business intelligence applications in companies: Integration, analysis and reporting of data. They are also the basis for all ETL (Extract, Transform and Load) processes and provide a broad repertoire of features for data warehouses.

Reporting Services (SSRS)

The practical SQL Server Reporting Services offer some interesting functions, especially for text fields: For example, these can be rotated by 270 degrees, and page breaks within Tablix data ranges and groups etc. expand the layout options when creating reports.

Master Data Services (MDS)

Master Data Services are a new feature in SQL Server 2008 R2. They now allow data to be managed centrally while making it available to different applications at the same time. This includes the management and protection of product as well as customer and account data during transactions.

Data mining and data warehousing

In the area of data warehousing, the improved performance in SQL Server 2008 allows faster integration of data into the data warehouse. This includes optimized management and performance especially of large partitioned tables.

Service Broker

With Service Broker, developers can implement native asynchronous messaging functions in SQL Server. This makes it possible to distribute workloads between multiple databases without complicated programming. In SQL Server 2008 R2, Service Broker gets, among other things, improved instructional capabilities in handling unprocessable messages in a queue, which also supports communication between different databases.

StreamInsight for SQL Server 2008 R2

With StreamInsight, the SQL Server 2008 R2 version also features CEP (Complex Event Processing) technology. StreamInsight allows continuous monitoring, processing and control of data streams in real time. This technology is used especially in electronic commerce for processing credit card information, logistics and network monitoring.

Report Builder V3.0

Report Builder V3.0 is also a new feature of SQL Server 2008 R2. Using caching, it allows reports and graphics to be displayed more quickly. Certain areas of reports can be published as web content via SharePoint. In addition, new data types in the geo-information systems allow descriptive representations by means of geographical maps.

Administrator functions in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2

Administrators will also appreciate the numerous wizards, repositories and functions of SQL Server 2008 R2, because they not only simplify and ease the administrative effort, but also the implementation of specialist requirements and compliance with service level agreements (SLA). In addition, SQL 2008 R2 also offers improved support for PowerShell 2.x.

SQL Server Management Studio also provides effective SQL Server 2008 R administration capabilities. For this purpose, the integrated Object Explorer collects relevant information from all registered servers and the new dashboard allows a clear display of various server and database parameters.

The Microsoft licensing model for SQL Server 2008 / R2 versions

The licensing of SQL Server 2008 as well as 2008 R2 version offers two choices, depending on the edition available.

The following software licensing models are available for selection:

• Per Processor - Based on the number of physical and virtual processors used in the operating system environment in which the instances of this server software are running.
• Server/Client Access License (CAL) - Base is the number of instances running the server software PLUS the number of devices and users accessing the instances and features of the server software.

Licensing for SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2

For the SQL Server 2008 version, Microsoft allows 1 virtual instance of the database per (virtual) CPU for each of the Workgroup and Standard and SBS editions available from Wiresoft. In the Enterprise edition, virtualization is not limited, always provided that you purchase the appropriate number of licenses for all processors.

In SQL version 2008 R2, the limit for Enterprise Edition is 4 virtual servers.

Overview of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 editions available at Wiresoft

At Wiresoft, in addition to software licenses for SQL Server 2008, you can also find licenses for SQL Server 2008 R2. As already mentioned, this release differs from the 2008 version in some features. The following editions of these two SQL versions are available for purchase from us:

• SQL Server 2008 Enterprise R2
• SQL Server 2008 Standard R2
• SQL Server 2008 Workgroup R2

• SQL Server 2008 Enterprise
• SQL Server 2008 Standard
• SQL Server 2008 Workgroup
• SQL Server For Small Business 2008 (SBS)

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Versions with Wiresoft for cheap licensing

At Wiresoft you can find original server licenses of the versions and editions of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Standard , Enterprise, Workgroup as well as Small Business for a particularly favorable final price. You will benefit from the special conditions that Wiresoft grants you not only for these but also for other software licenses: All Microsoft products available with us are unused single licenses from European companies, which were acquired absolutely legally by them: According to a ruling of the European Court of Justice, the purchase and resale of software products, server lic enses or CALs, is absolutely legal. Therefore, our license products are all 100% usable, because they have also been thoroughly checked by us for their authenticity. Many customers regularly trust in the advantages of Wiresoft's favorable licensing offer. Do you have any questions about your individual licensing with a Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Edition? Then please feel free to contact us.