SAN FRANCISCO April 16, 1996 Today at DB Expo, Microsoft Corp. announced the release of Microsoft®
SQL Server
™6.5. Fine-tuned to offer the best performance on the Windows NT®
Server network operating system, Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 represents a major enhancement to Microsoft SQL Server 6.0.
Microsoft SQL Server 6.5, Microsoft’s client-server database management system, offers a wealth of new capabilities designed to make it easier for customers to build, deploy and manage distributed client-server applications. Some of the key new features include built-in support for Internet applications, improved support for distributed transactions, heterogeneous replication, enhanced distributed management tools and a new locking architecture called Dynamic Locking.
“Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 is a breakthrough for client-server databases, even as the Internet transforms business computing,”
said Jim Allchin, senior vice president of the desktop and business systems division at Microsoft.
”
Beginning with version 6.0 and now with 6.5, Microsoft SQL Server has emerged as one of the pillars of the Microsoft BackOffice
™family of server applications. Microsoft SQL Server delivers the performance, security and interoperability required across the enterprise and the Internet, yet it is cost-effective and manageable for businesses of all sizes.”
Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 is the best database for Windows NT Server and integrates closely with Microsoft BackOffice. Designed from the ground up to take full advantage of Windows NT Server, Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 delivers integration with Windows NT services such as security, event logging, performance monitoring, threading and asynchronous I/O.
Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 has raised performance standards on Windows NT Server. In TPC Benchmark® test results announced last week, Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 outperformed Oracle 7 and Sybase® System 11 in throughput, at 3,641 tpmC®
, with all databases running on Windows NT Server and the same hardware platform. Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 also set a record in price/performance at $147.62 per tpmC, the first time a database on any platform has broken the $150 per tpmC barrier.
Improved Performance With Dynamic Locking
Microsoft SQL Server 6.5’s speed is based on a combination of refinements in the database engine, better parallelism through expanded use of native Windows NT threads, and new features such as Dynamic Locking. Dynamic Locking is a new technology designed by Microsoft that allows Microsoft SQL Server to choose the right level of lock – row, page, table or database – to maximize both concurrency and speed. Only Microsoft SQL Server dynamically chooses the lock to best fit the needs of the application. Customers can benefit from the greater speed of page locks or the improved concurrency of row locks.
“Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 and SAP®
R/3
™offer a scalable and very cost-effective solution for our joint enterprise customers,”
said Karl-Heinz Hess, executive vice president of platforms for SAP AG.
“More than 50 R/3 customers are already using Microsoft SQL Server on Windows NT. The addition of Dynamic Locking makes Microsoft SQL Server on Windows NT an even more attractive solution for R/3 customers.”
Database-Powered Internet Applications
Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 simplifies the creation and management of intranet and Internet applications. The new Microsoft SQL Server Web Assistant uses a step-by-step, wizardlike interface to walk a database administrator or Webmaster through the process of publishing Microsoft SQL Server data on the World Wide Web, making it easier to create interactive, database-driven Web sites. The Web Assistant lets Microsoft SQL Server automatically generate hypertext markup language (HTML) pages or populate HTML templates with data from Microsoft SQL Server when data changes or as a scheduled task.
The combined power of Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 and Microsoft Internet Information Server allows users to use Web browsers, including Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape
™
Navigator, to query data stored in Microsoft SQL Server. Leveraging the built-in ODBC connectivity, Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Internet Information Server deliver optimum performance for interactive, database-driven Web sites. In addition, new support in Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 for replication of image and text data types enables Microsoft SQL Server to function as a rich content management engine for Web sites.
Distributed Transactions Simplified With DTC
Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 includes Distributed Transaction Coordinator (DTC), which makes distributed applications easier to create by automatically managing distributed updates across multiple Microsoft SQL Server systems. This ensures that multiserver updates are consistent and recoverable. DTC also supports XA-compliant transaction processing monitors such as Transarc’s Encina, NCR’s Top End and Novell’s TUXEDO® , and it allows Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 to participate in distributed, heterogeneous transactions. For example, an application using Encina could update a Microsoft SQL Server database on Windows NT Server and an Oracle® database running on HP-UX®
.
Heterogeneous Replication
Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 builds on version 6.0’s replication capabilities. Microsoft SQL Server information can now be replicated to Oracle, IBM® DB2®
, Sybase and Microsoft Access databases, as well as other ODBC-compliant databases. This allows Microsoft SQL Server to easily interoperate in mixed database environments and is particularly useful in distributed environments for moving information closer to the users who need it.
Additional Enhancements
Additional new capabilities and features include improved administration, enhanced reliability and recoverability, and extended support for data warehousing applications.
Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 includes enhancements to SQL Enterprise Manager, a management tool for administering distributed Microsoft SQL Server systems. A new DBA Assistant automates routine maintenance chores, an extensible toolbar and menu make it easy to integrate third-party management tools, and integrated data-transfer tools simplify data migration.
New fault tolerance and recovery capabilities include backup and restore of individual tables and point-in-time recovery. In addition, Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 is the first database to support the Compaq®
Online Recovery Server for automatic failover in the event of system failure.
New features for data warehousing include OLAP query operators, CUBE and ROLLUP, which simplify retrieval of multidimensional result sets. A new
“data pipe”
capability lets Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 programmatically collect data from multiple sources, including Microsoft SQL Server and other databases, for consolidation into a data warehouse on Microsoft SQL Server.
Pricing and Availability
Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 server licenses are available for $999, and a single client-access license is $149. Volume discounts are available. The following package configurations are available for the retail channel: five-user system, $1,399; 10-user system, $1,999; 25-user system, $3,999; 50-user system, $7,999; 100-user system, $15,999; and 250-user system, $24,999. Client-access licenses are available in a five-user pack for $739 and a 20-user pack for $2,369.
A special unlimited-user access license for Internet and intranet use, Microsoft SQL Internet Connector, is $2,999. This cost-effective licensing option, available for Microsoft SQL Server 6.0 or 6.5, eliminates the need to count concurrent database connections or users, simplifying the deployment of Web-based solutions.
Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 has released to manufacturing, with availability in the channel expected within the next two weeks. All prices quoted are estimated U.S. reseller prices.
A no-charge 120-day evaluation version of Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 is available now for downloading from Microsoft’s Web site. For more information on Microsoft SQL Server 6.5, visit the Microsoft Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
Microsoft, Windows NT and BackOffice are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
TPC Benchmark and tpmC are registered certification marks of Transaction Processing Performance Council.
SAP is a registered trademark and R/3 is a trademark of SAP AG.
Netscape is a trademark of Netscape Communications Corp.
TUXEDO is a registered trademark of Novell Inc.
Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corp.
HP-UX is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Co.
IBM and DB2 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corp.
Compaq is a registered trademark of Compaq Computer Corp.
