Upgrading to SQL Server 2005, Some Important Changes
Hello to our Education Customers,
We want to share with you recent and important changes at Microsoft for customers migrating or upgrading to SQL Server 2005.
In the past two months Microsoft reduced the cost of SQL by nearly half. For actual cost comparisions, please contact your Microsoft Software Reseller. These price improvements are the best we have seen in a decade with Microsoft. If you are on SQL 2000, deploying a new database, or considering a migration, purchasing this year will insure you the lowest software cost.
More information on upgrading
The price reduction is great, but why upgrade? What value will you gain by upgrading from SQL 2000 to SQL 2005?
https://www.microsoft.com/sql/solutions/upgrade/default.mspx
· High Availability
o Native 32/64 Bit (x86 and Itanium) Support
o Support for up to 64 Processors
o Support for up to 64/128 GB of RAM (RAM limitation is set by the OS)
o Improved Data Mirroring Capabilities
o Supports up to 9 nodes in a cluster
o For more information go to https://www.microsoft.com/sql/technologies/highavailability/default.mspx
· Security
o Built with the Trustworthy Computing model extensive new security features
o Encryption of entire Database
o For more information go to https://www.microsoft.com/sql/technologies/security/security-at-a-glance.mspx
· Manageability
o Integrated Management
o Proactive Health and Performance Monitoring
o Enhanced Performance Tuning
o For more information go to https://www.microsoft.com/sql/technologies/manageability/default.mspx
· Business Intelligence
o Improved Reporting Services
o Improved Data Mining
o Integration with Microsoft Office
o For more information go to https://www.microsoft.com/sql/solutions/bi/default.mspx
We hope this is meaningful and timely information for your organization. Please contact your Microsoft Account Manager for clarification on this information, deeper information on SQL 2005, and to discuss upgrading or migrating with one of our SQL Server Technology Specialists at Microsoft.