April 20, 2006 Microsoft Pushes SQL Server Toward Continuous Hot Availability By Charles Babcock Courtesy of InformationWeek Data mirroring, the ability to generate an up-to-the-second mirror image of an operational database, will become part of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 as Microsoft released Service Pack 1 for its database Wednesday. Data mirroring is an option with the Oracle database and IBM's DB2 database. SQL Server's Service Pack 1, as previously announced, pushes the Microsoft system onto the same high-availability playing field as its competitors. SQL Server 2005 already includes such continuous-operation features as the ability to take database snapshots, which allows the reconstruction of the database at a previous point in time. Some database users, for example, record a snapshot every hour. Its predecessor, SQL Server 2000, had the ability to "fail over" from one server to another in a cluster, avoiding downtime due to a hardware failure. But the data mirroring feature comes closer to the "continuous availability" goal set by Microsoft Senior VP Paul Flessner earlier this month. Data mirroring "is a milestone in support of that vision," says Carol Dullmeyer, Microsoft senior product manager. With mirroring, two servers are linked together, each creating the same log of events from a stream of transactions. Mirroring software also listens for the "heartbeat" of the primary server. If it detects an outage, within a few seconds the backup copy of the data will become the primary database server, picking up where the other left off, Dullmeyer explains. As a downed server or failed network segment comes back on line, the mirroring system reasserts itself, with what was formerly the primary server working as the mirror image server. The feature moves SQL Server beyond "warm failover" capabilities, where an outage might result in a few minutes of downtime, to the status of a "hot failover" system, where an outage remains nearly imperceptible to users. Backup and recovery techniques, where the state of the database is rebuilt from a database server log, is more time-consuming and considered a cold start, or restart. Microsoft is also pushing the Management Studio features of SQL Server in its Enterprise Standard and Workgroup editions down into its free Express version in the Service Pack 1 release, says Dullmeyer. Microsoft's closer ties with SAP were also evident this week as the competition heats up between SAP and Oracle. The Reporting Services in SQL Server can work better with SAP's NetWeaver Business Intelligence, the data storehouse for SAP applications. Microsoft will also supply SAP NetWeaver-ready versions of its Data Provider, a business intelligence tool, and Query Designer, used for querying the SAP Business Warehouse. "It's important to have reporting facilities for the SAP Business Warehouse," Dullmeyer notes. Microsoft released SQL Server 2005 last November. Service Pack 1 represents its first upgrade of the release. E-mail This Story Print This Story Reprint This Story Coming From MIcrosoft: SQL Server Everywhere Interview: Microsoft Database Guru Microsoft To Buy ProClarity Get the latest Developer news, product info, and trends every week.			VMware Assembles Alliance To Virtualize Desktops Intuit To Launch Add-on For QuickBase For Corporate Workgroups Careers: Pay Gap Is Closing Between Certified And Noncertified Tech Skills, Says Report IE7 For XP Beta 2: Has Firefox Met Its Match? HP Unveils Services For MySQL In A Reversal, Feds Says Outsourced Programmers Are Eligible For Assistance     Developer Pipeline's Main RSS Feed     Developer Pipeline's Blog RSS Feed VIEW ALL BRIEFING CENTERS Editorial and vendor perspectives Special Report: Are Computers Destroying The Earth? With Earth Day just around the corner, two reporters cross swords over the question of whether computers and technology are helping or hurting the environment. See what they have to say, then vote on who's got it right. Embedded Experts: Fix Code Bugs Or Cost Lives Apple's Boot Camp: Macs Do Windows Microsoft Platforms Chief Talks Co-opetition With Open Source Crash Course: Get a Handle on Web Services Specs and Standards How do recent stories highlighting the ability of Apple's new Intel-based Macs to run Windows as well as Mac OS X affect your view of Macs as development platforms? Macs that can run Windows and OS X? Gimme!     39% Yawn. No thanks.     22% It all comes down to price point. Count me as maybe.     17% Ha. If it doesn't run zOS or Solaris, forget it...     12% Apple? Never! TRS-80 RULEZ!     10% E-fficiency: Web App IDEs Want to give your e-business a competitive edge? Turbo-charge your development projects with one of these Web application development IDEs. Web Site Development Made Easy A "Class" Act: Software IDEs