Level: Intermediate
Andrew Brust
Senior Director, Market Strategy and Intelligence
Datameer
This full-day workshop will get you up to speed on SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2, regardless of which SQL Server version you're using today. Lenni and Andrew will pull no punches as they rip through the capabilities added to SQL Server 2008 and the most recent enhancements in SQL Server 2008 R2. We’ll begin with an overview of features new to SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2, and then dive right in to an intensive demo-packed tour of the most important features for developers.
We’ll start with the many exciting enhancements made to T-SQL. Learn how to use table-valued parameters to marshal entire sets of rows across the network from client to server, and to pass them between stored procedures and UDFs. Find out about MERGE, a powerful new DML statement that combines the capabilities of four (or more) separate operations, and INSERT OVER DML, which enhances our ability to capture change data from the OUTPUT clause of any DML statement. Other T-SQL enhancements we’ll cover include the new date and time data types (with time zone awareness), and GROUPING SETS feature for greater flexibility in composing aggregate queries.
We’ll then look at BI fetaures brand new to SQL Server 2008 R2. Originally dubbed the “BI Refresh” by Microsoft insiders, R2 adds the brand new PowerPivot self-service BI product, as well as a revamped version of Reporting Services with a new Component Library feature and a new version of Report Builder. We’ll look at each of these products in depth and see how to use them together. We’ll also cover the basics of SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services, and its APIs, to set the context properly. We’ll finish with an overview of R2’s new Master Data Services component and its StreamInsight complex event processing (CEP) engine.
We’ll finish by examining the “beyond relational” features (present in both SQL Server 2008 releases), which will get you thinking outside the box with respect to the types of data that can be managed by a relational database system. Learn how to use the hierarchyid data type to cast a hierarchical structure over any relational table. With FILESTREAM, database developers can finally enjoy the native ability to store large binary objects in the file system transparently, and with full transactional capabilities. The geospatial data types enable you to integrate location-intelligence into the database, and we’ll build several location-aware applications on top of these new data types. You’ll learn a ton of new and recent SQL Server features in this information-packed day!
You will learn:
- T-SQL enhancements added to SQL Server 2008
- The latest BI features in SQL Server 2008 R2, including PowerPivot and enhancements to Reporting Services
- Explore unstructured data storage, including native file streaming, and the new hierarchical and geospatial data types