At the PASS summit, the Editions of SQL Server 2008 R2 were announced. Pricing was also announced.

• SQL Server 2008 R2 is planned for release in the first half of calendar year 2010
• 2 New Editions were announced: Datacenter and Parallel Data Warehouse
• Application and Multi-Server Management
• Support for up to 256 logical processors
• Backup Compression will now also be a feature of SQL Server 2008 R2 standard edition

The November Community Technology Preview (CTP) of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 is now also available

http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/R2-editions.aspx

You want to learn PowerShell, but have the time of don’t know where to start?

Not to be missed! TODAY (3 November 2009) at the free PowerShell Script Club by the Swiss IT Pro User Group

Language: English

When:    Tuesday - 3. November 200
               17:45 - 21:00

               Small Apéro 17:45 - 18:15 Uhr and from 20:15
    
Where? 
        Digicomp Academy AG  (Zürich)
        Limmatstrasse 50
        CH-8005 Zürich
        Tel. +41 44 447 21 21

Marc van Orsouw is a Dutch but living in Switzerland and is a        PowerShell MVP for the last 4 years in a row, he is best known for his blog thePowerShellGuy.com and his utilities for PowerShell as PowerTab d the PowerShell WMI explorer.

Come with your colleagues and friends!

“Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2" from Microsoft Press is available as a free download. Authors are Charlie Russel and Craig Zucker. 

Download from here (PDF 11MB, 182 pages)

http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/C/0/5C0BD0AB-040D-4C56-A60B-661001012DDA/Windows_Server_2008_R2_e-book.pdf

SQL Server 2008 R2 will be a BI-refresh (“Madison Overview”/”Gemini Overview”) and comes out as a Minor-Release (SQL Server Version 10.50). But there are several interesting features and topics which are interesting for DBAs. In this post I’ll list some options you can already test out in the actual August CTP. Additional enhancements will ship with the next CTP which will be available somewhere around middle of November 2009.

SQL Server Stand-Alone “SysPrep”

The „SysPrep“-feature will also be available for standalone installations, where you can pre deploy your binaries and finish the configuration after the rollout. The „Advanced” Tab on the Setup Landing Page gives you the opportunity to prepare an Image of a SQL Server instance. Instance-ID, Root-Directory, and Features can be selected and pre deployed, but it is also possible to add or remove features by completing the setup. The services and their configuration settings (Security Settings, Paths) will be also configured within the completing procedure. You’ll find additional information on

How To Install SQL Server 2008 R2 Using SysPrep

SQL Server SysPrep is supported for Database Engine and Reporting Services in a Stand-Alone installation for all editions. Management Tools and Shared Services like Browser Service or SQL Server Writer will be automatically deployed during the initial setup. Failover Cluster can be prepared and configured with “Advanced Cluster Preparation/Completion” as it was with SQL Server 2008.

Unicode Compression

SQL Server 2008 R2 has the ability to compress Unicode datatypes like NCHAR and NVARCHAR and brings you huge space savings for a large number of application databases which work with Unicode datatypes. The Simple Compression Scheme for Unicode Data (SCSU, Standard Compression Scheme http://unicode.org/reports/tr6/ ) has a compression ratio of 50% for English and the most European Languages! Unicode Compression will be enabled as part of ROW or PAGE compression. If you already use the data-compression-feature, it is necessary to rebuild the indexes of the compressed table. But if you add new datasets or change an existing the Unicode compression will be enabled automatically.

There are some interesting information regarding Unicode compression and SAP in the blog post of Juergen Thomas: http://blogs.msdn.com/saponsqlserver/archive/2009/09/16/sql-server-2008-r2-ucs2-compression-what-is-it-impact-on-sap-systems.aspx

In Books online you’ll also find additional information on Unicode Compression Implementation.

SQL Server Utility – Application- and Multiservermanagement

SQL Server 2008 R2 introduces new management tools to help improve IT efficiency and productivity. Investments in application and multi-server management will help organizations proactively manage database environments efficiently at scale through centralized visibility into resource utilization. Such investments can help streamline consolidation and upgrade initiatives across the application lifecycle—all with tools that make it fast and easy. The Application- and Multiservermanagement Whitepaper explains the new terms and the configuration. The basic idea is to give DBAs the opportunity to deploy databases (data-tier applications) in a standardized way. The next CTP will bring more advantages in this topic. This blog keeps you updated.

There are no advantages or changes planned in the area of High-Availability and Datatypes.

Before you test SQL Server 2008 R2, please be prepared that the physical database version number will be updated (SQL Server 2008 RTM/SP1 655). This means, that it’s not possible to restore a SQL Server 2008 R2 database back to a SQL Server 2008 RTM/SP1 instance (backup/restore or detach/attach). Compatibility level remains “100”, whereas “90” for SQL 2005 and “80” for SQL 2000 are still supported.

You can get your database version number with following query:

SELECT
DATABASEPROPERTY ('YourDBName','Version')
GO

Get the SQL Server 2008 R2 CTP from http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/R2.aspx.

Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.

Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.

(*Your PC must run genuine Windows to install Microsoft Security Essentials. Learn more about genuine )

Microsoft announced yesterday the availability of 2 new betas for System Center products

System Center Essentials 2010

SCE 2010 is designed specifically for mid-sized organizations and delivers a unified physical and virtual IT management experience.

It enables you to better secure, update, monitor, and troubleshoot from a single console, so you can efficiently and proactively manage your IT environment:

• A unified solution with a single console for managing your physical and virtual servers, client computers, hardware, software, and IT services
• Smart alert notifications of IT issues, providing expert diagnostic information to accelerate problem diagnosis and quickly resolve issues before they cause downtime
• Simplify complex management tasks, like creation of virtual servers, software deployment, update management, and inventory collection
• And designed to be easy to deploy and maintain, exclusively for mid-sized organizations

System Center Data Protection Manager 2010

There are lots of reasons to be excited about DPM 2010.  Here are a few:

• Virtualization administrators get item-level restore from within VM backups, as well as support for LiveMigration (CSV) scenarios for Hyper-V R2
• SharePoint administrators lose the need for a Recovery Farm and gain auto-protection of new content databases
• SQL Server administrators get auto-protection at a SQL instance level, huge scalability increases and a self-service restore utility for DBAs
• Exchange managers get support for Exchange 2010, including DAG configurations, as well as CCR/SCR
• Windows client users get protection and recovery for remote laptops, with protection online and offline
• Disaster Recovery planners get lots of new options around multi-site chaining and protection between sites
• And everyone gets new enterprise scalability, reliability and manageability enhancements

The Microsoft Surface device has been available in Switzerland since 1 September 2009.

You may have seen it at our various events, but for those who have not see it in action yet, there is a quick 30 second video summary on the Surface blog

Everything you want to know about the latest Web Technologies.

27th October 2009, Swissôtel Zürich

This conference will show you in one day, the newest technology advances for Software and Web Developers, Web Architects, Web- and Interactive Designers, and now also Hosting Providers

One of the highlights of the event is the presentation of the Best of Swiss Silverlight Awards in the morning, plus the unique Podium discussion during lunch.  With 2 parallel tracks, a Designer and Developer track in the morning, and a Developer and Hosting Provider Track in the afternoon, followed by a Networking-Apéro.

Shape ‘09 offers you the platform the see the most important technologies for the Internet, plus ideas and practical implementations and then you can network and discuss your ideas with your colleagues.

Register Today!

Version 4 of the much loved Toolkit for MOSS 2007 has been released.

Some of the new or improved functionality included in v4:

• Diagnostic Tool improvements
• Permission Reporting Tool
• Quota Management Command
• Security Configuration Wizard

Further information about the Toolkit can be found on the Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog or directly on TechNet.

And because waiting is the hardest part…

This gadget counts down the days, hours, and minutes until Windows 7 is released worldwide the 22 October 2009.

What is the result when a national Top Photographer with a Top Swiss Model is asked to create his own Windows Desktop Background?

Photographer Noë Flum, together with Model Raquel Alvarez created a Helvetic modern work of art on the San Bernardino.

What becomes clear when looking the the Making-of Video, is that there is no computer wizardry being used here. The whole scene was fully created on-location, using only a camera and props.

The desktop background is available as a free download (1920x1442).

October 19-22, 2009, Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas, USA

The SharePoint Conference 2009 will be the first and the best conference to get in depth training on SharePoint 2010, from upgrade and migration to the business value of new platform features and functionality. Come and get early insight into what you’ll be able to do with SharePoint 2010 and how you’ll be able to get there.

Naturally, SharePoint 2007 will also be covered by experienced experts.

Register today!

http://www.mssharepointconference.com/

As you may know, Server Core installations of Windows Server 2008 R2 now support the .NET framework.

But, some functions are not available on Server Core. As Server Core only has a command prompt and no GUI, mostly Graphical User Interface objects are not supported.

For a list of the .NET 2.0 features, excluded see here
Additionally for .NET 3.0/3.5 see here

Also remember that installing products like SQL Server 2005/2008/2008 R2, Exchange Server 2003/2007 , SharePoint Server 2003/2007 and others are not supported on Server Core. If a Server product supports Server Core installations, it will be clearly documented. If nothing is said, you need to assume it is not supported.

Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP2 is now available for download.

WSUS 3.0 SP2 supports the latest operating systems including Windows Server® 2008 R2 and Windows 7 clients. WSUS 3.0 SP2 is more robust and features significant improvements in client performance, reliability, and increased server usability and reliability.

If your are still not using WSUS for your patch management, find out here how it can help you on “Patch Tuesdays”

For Switzerland, Office Genuine Advantage has arrived..

Office Genuine Advantage Notifier is a program that Microsoft uses to combat software piracy and help you check whether your Microsoft Office version is original software and properly licensed.

From 25. August 2009 can download OGA Notifier from Microsoft Update.

If you are not using original software the notification tool will periodically remind you, so that you can take appropriate action.

The OGA website helps you to activate your product and to take measures so that your software passes validation. If the Authenticity check fails, your can license the product easily using the OGA Legalization Kit. This consists of original disk and product key. If you need help, you will be redirected to your local retailer or Microsoft support services.

More more information about Microsoft Office Original Software.