SQL Server 2008 Support

KUALA LUMPUR Microsoft Malaysia has three new versions of its enterprise business solutions — Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008.

It is confident the products will better enable businesses to manage their IT infrastructures and move to a virtualised environment.

Among the early adopters of the products are insurance company ING Bhd, hard-disk manufacurer Western Digital, shipping firm MISC Bhd, semiconductor services provider Carsem (M) Sdn Bhd, and eGenting Sdn Bhd, the IT arm of casino and hotel operator The Genting Group.

Thomas Ng, vice-president of eGenting, said: "Windows Server 2008 has helped us better optimise our server resources through virtualisation of multiple operating systems, while helping us reduce licensing costs."

Microsoft Malaysia managing director Yasmin Mahmood hopes the products will help IT professionals create "dynamic systems that have seamless access to the information and computing capabilities that users need and for their desired devices."

The company's enterprise solutions segment has been growing steadily over the past decade; just two years ago, it only made up a third of its total business.

Now, half our total business comes from the enterprise space, said Yasmin. "It is one of the fastest growing segments for Microsoft. We are hoping for even higher growth now that these new products have been launched," she added.

Added benefits

The main focus of Windows Server 2008 is virtualisation, which enables it to run virtual server as virtual desktop machines whether to actual desktop machines or to thin clients.

This will enable system administrators to allocate IT resources more flexibly, such as in situations where demand for an application may vary at different times of the day.

That might happen in a trading or stock brokerage situation where transaction volumes are subject to peaks and troughs throughout a trading day.

Improvements in SQL Server 2008 include improved information lifecycle management of various data types, such as traditional unstructured information, geospatial information, and information structured into complex hierarchies.

SQL Server 2008 has an improved report-building facility that incorporates server support for multiple data types, data sources, and report design options, amongst others.

Visual Studio 2008 allows for faster application development by simplifying a programmer’s view of different data types through its language Integrated Query.

This lets them use a single model to query and transform XML, Microsoft SQL Server and object data without having to use the specialised language for each.

Visual Studio also lets developers build one application to run on different versions of the .Net framework rather than a different version for each version.

The 2008 versions of Windows Server, SQL Server and Visual Studio help keep software maintenance costs down, said Microsoft.

Source : star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2008/4/9/technology/20080409172014&sec=technology