SQL Server 2008 enables the use of geo-spatial data or location intelligence in four ways:

• a new geography data type (there's another one for 2D geometry), which can store points, lines, line segments and polygons
• A rich set of functions to make use of them, e.g. whether they intersect, how far are they away etc.
• a special indexing mechanism to enable the function to perform quickly
• Virtual earth integration so your users can see the results on a map without resorting to any extra software investment, while keeping their data in a secure database.

Below is a short blogcast to show how these come together following on from my last two blogcast's on this interesting aspect of SQL Server 2008...