SQL Server 2008 R2 New Features

With SQL Server 2008 R2, Microsoft continues to be the value leader, offering rich functionality to support OLTP and BI workloads out of the box at a low cost of ownership relative to competitors. With increasing hardware innovations, SQL Server continues to be the only major database vendor who does not price per core for multi-core processors.
What’s New in SQL Server 2008 R2 Editions
Built on SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2 delivers higher mission-critical scale, more efficient IT, and expanded reporting and analytics through self-service business intelligence. SQL Server 2008 R2 introduces two new premium editions to meet the needs of large scale datacenters and data warehouses.
• SQL Server 2008 R2 Datacenter
• SQL Server 2008 R2 Parallel Data Warehouse

New Premium Editions
Datacenter
Built on SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise, SQL Server 2008 R2 Datacenter is designed to deliver a high-performing data platform that provides the highest levels of scalability for large application workloads, virtualization and consolidation, and management for an organization’s database infrastructure. Datacenter helps enable organizations to cost effectively scale their mission-critical environment.
Key features new to Datacenter:
• Application and Multi-Server Management for enrolling, gaining insights and managing over 25 instances
• Highest virtualization support for maximum ROI on consolidation and virtualization
• High-scale complex event processing with SQL Server StreamInsight™
• Supports more than 8 processors and up to 256 logical processors for highest levels of scale
• Supports memory limits up to OS maximum

Parallel Data Warehouse
SQL Server 2008 R2 Parallel Data Warehouse is a highly scalable data warehouse appliance-based solution. Parallel Data Warehouse delivers performance at low cost through a massively parallel processing (MPP) architecture and compatibility with hardware partners – scale your data warehouse to tens and hundreds of terabytes.
Key features new to Parallel Data Warehouse:
• 10s to 100s TBs enabled by MPP architecture
• Advanced data warehousing capabilities like Star Join Queries and Change Data Capture
• Integration with SSIS, SSRS, and SSAS
• Supports industry standard data warehousing hub and spoke architecture and parallel database copy

Investments in Core Editions
SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise delivers a comprehensive data platform that provides built-in security, availability, and scale coupled with robust business intelligence offerings—helping enable the highest service levels for mission-critical workloads.
The following capabilities are new to Enterprise:
• PowerPivot for SharePoint to support the hosting and management of PowerPivot applications in SharePoint
• Application and Multi-Server Management for enrolling, gaining insights and managing up to 25 instances
• Master Data Services for data consistency across heterogeneous systems
• Data Compression now enabled with UCS-2 Unicode support
• High-scale complex event processing with SQL Server StreamInsight™

SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard
SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard delivers a complete data management and business intelligence platform for departments and small organizations to run their applications—helping enable effective database management with minimal IT resources.
The following capabilities are new to Standard:
• Backup Compression to reduce data backups by up to 60% and help reduce time spent on backups *
• Can be managed instance for Application and Multi-Server Management capabilities
• High-scale complex event processing with SQL Server StreamInsight™
* Source: Technet
SQL Server 2008 R2 Edition Pricing
Editions Per Processor Pricing
Retail ** Per Server Plus CAL Pricing
Retail **
Parallel Data Warehouse $57,498 Not offered via Server CAL
Datacenter $57,498 Not offered via Server CAL
Enterprise $28,749 $13,969 with 25 CALs
Standard $7,499 $1,849 with 5 CALs
** Full Packaged Product (FPP) Pricing. Prices on this page are stated in U.S. dollars and reflect pricing for purchases within the United States and Canada. The prices listed are estimated prices; reseller pricing may vary.