SQL Server 2012 is imminent

A new version of SQL Server is almost ready for release and it is pretty clear that it will now be called SQL Server 2012. If you go to www.microsoft.com/sql the ‘SQL Server 2012’ in a huge font is a bit of a giveaway:

What does SQL Server 2012 have to offer?
There are a range of changes to the main database engine, and business intelligence components such as Integration, Analysis and Reporting Services.

For the database engine the enhancements are to programmability, manageability, scalability and security. However the real highlights are with respect to availability and the AlwaysOn initiative. AlwaysOn largely consists of

• Availability Groups: An enhanced version of database mirroring that mirrors groups of databases together and allows them to be failed over together
• Multi-Subnet Failover Clusters: An enhanced clustering solution that allows a database cluster to be based on servers in different data centres, using replicated databases rather than a shared database. It can be used for failover in the event of a server failure and for disaster recovery in the event of a total data centre failure

Clearly Microsoft is targeting high availability as a key part of SQL Server 2012. This is understandable given that keeping databases running 24 hours a day is important to all kinds of organisations in the age of the Internet.

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