Stories by: Sean McCown

SQL Server 2008, aka "Katmai," gives SQL Server shops plenty of reasons to get excited. The best SQL Server release to date, it sports more nice new features than you can count, and the improvements extend to both performance and manageability. In a few cases, such as the Resource Governor, you'll wish Microsoft had taken the functionality a little further. But whether you manage an OLTP environment, or an OLAP environment, or both, you will most likely find Katmai compelling. It easily passes my own five-point test for upgrades.

Katmai, the code name for Microsoft's imminent SQL Server 2008 release, comes from an Alaskan territory know for volcanoes, which may not be the best symbol for a database. So far, however, Katmai hasn't blown up on me. And the lower-profile Katmai seems like a good follow-on to Yukon, the code name for the gigantic SQL Server 2005 release.

I like to define a five-point touch system for my database upgrades. If the new version doesn't change my life in five ways, then it's not a significant upgrade. I'll typically quantify my need by approximating how many hours I spend each week performing certain tasks, and then estimate how much time the upgrade will save me. If I spend five hours every week dealing with resource usage and the new release will do it automatically, then I figure the upgrade will save me five hours a week. Now all I have to do is quantify four other features the same way, and I can sell it to management.

Windows Server 2008, popularly known by its code name Longhorn, is a significant release for Microsoft and represents the result of a very long development cycle.

There comes a time in every DBA's life when he has to admit defeat in one area or another. Personally, I've done it so much it's old hat for me, so here's another one.

As organizations grow, their application and database scenarios can become more complex, and it becomes increasingly important for IT to standardize the deployments of these environments. Standardization not only reduces mistakes by ensuring that each deployment is done exactly the same way, but it decreases deployment time. Fortunately, solutions are available to assist with the process, such as GridApp's database automation management solution, Clarity 3.5, aimed at companies running Oracle, Oracle RAC (Real Application Clusters), and to a lesser degree, SQL Server.

Microsoft's makeover brings high-availability disaster recovery, and other heavy-duty improvements to its heavyweight DBMS.

MySQL 5.0 has finally been released to much anticipation from the open source community. The new version includes some important enhancements that make an upgrade mandatory for 4.1 users, including improved security and stored procedures. All in all, MySQL 5.0 is a respectable open source database, but it's still a few steps below the "big four" databases (IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and Sybase) when it comes to management and development tools.

Powerful solution performs thorough security audits and its flexible frameworkd enables so much more.