Experience breakthrough performance with SQL Server 2016 features

SQL Server 2016 is the biggest leap forward in Microsoft data platform history with features that increase performance, simplify management, and transform your data into actionable insights—all on a database that has the least vulnerabilities of any major platform.

Some of the new capabilities of SQL Server 2016:

• Build intelligent, mission-critical applications
• Break free from Oracle
• Always Encrypted
• Real-time operational analytics
• In-database analytics
• PolyBase
• And much much more. Check on the Internet, it has hours of reading about SQL Server 2016.

News in Service Pack 2 (May 2018):

SQL Server 2016 Service Pack 2 ("SP2") contains a roll-up of released hotfixes as well as multiple improvements centered around performance, scalability, and supportability based on feedback from customers and the SQL community. These improvements enable SQL Server 2016 to perform faster and with expanded supportability and diagnostics. It also showcases the SQL Server product team’s commitment to providing continued value into in-market releases.

SQL Server 2016 Service Pack 2 includes:

• Performance and scale improvements for SQL Server, such as improved database backup performance on large memory machines and added backup compression support, which helps performance of almost all databases.
• Supportability and diagnostics enhancements, such as improved troubleshooting and additional information about statistics used during query plan optimization.
• New improvements based on Connect feedback items filed by the SQL Server Community.
• Some improvements originally introduced in SQL Server 2014 SP2 and SQL Server 2012 SP4.

SQL Server 2016 Editions:

SQL Server 2016 is the biggest leap forward in the Microsoft data platform history with real-time operational analytics, rich visualizations on mobile devices, built-in advanced analytics, new advanced security technology, and new hybrid cloud scenarios.

Enterprise Edition

SQL Server Enterprise delivers comprehensive datacenter capabilities for mission-critical database, business intelligence, and advanced analytics workloads.

Mission Critical Performance

• Operating system max cores and memory
• Enhanced in-memory OLTP performance
• Operational analytics
• Enhanced AlwaysOn with no domain join (WS 2016)
• Query Store
• Temporal

Security

• Always Encrypted
• Row-level security
• Dynamic data masking
• Enhanced separation of duties
• Enhanced SQL Server auditing
• Transparent data encryption
• Policy-based management

Data Warehousing

• Enhanced in-memory ColumnStore
• PolyBase in scale-out configuration (head and compute nodes)
• License rights to (the APS) MPP appliance
• Distributed query processing
• Support for JSON

Business Intelligence

• End-to-end mobile BI on all major platforms
• Enhanced DirectQuery
• In-memory analytics
• Advanced data mining
• Advanced tabular
• Web portal experience (all reports in one place)
• Modernized reports
• Pin reports to Power BI
• Enhanced multidimensional models

Advanced Analytics

• In database advanced analytics
• R integration with massive parallel processing for performance and scale
• Works with in-memory technology
• Run in database or standalone
• Connectivity to R Open

Hybrid Cloud

• Stretch Database
• Enhanced backup to Azure
• Enhanced HA and DR with Azure – ease of use, no domain join (Windows Server 2016)
• SSIS integration with Azure Data Factory and Azure SQL Data Warehouse

Standard Edition

SQL Server Standard provides core data management and business intelligence capabilities for non-critical workloads with minimal IT resources.

Mission Critical Performance

• Disk-based OLTP
• 24 cores max and 128 GB max memory
• 2-node single database failover (non-readable secondary)
• Query Store
• Temporal

Security

• Row-level security
• Dynamic data masking
• Basic auditing
• Separation of duties
• Policy-based management

Data Warehousing

• PolyBase (compute node only)
• Support for JSON

Business Intelligence

• Basic tabular (16GB memory per instance)
• Web portal experience
• Modernized reports
• Pin reports to Power BI
• Enhanced multidimensional models

Advanced Analytics

• Single-threaded for RRE
• Connectivity to R Open

Hybrid Cloud

• Stretch Database
• Backup to Azure

Express Edition

SQL Server Express is a free edition of SQL Server ideal for development and production for desktop, web and small server applications.

Mission Critical Performance

• 1 GB memory, max 10 GB memory
• Basic OLTP
• Query Store
• Temporal

Security

• Policy-based management

Data Warehousing

• Support for JSON

Business Intelligence

• Basic reporting and analytics
• Web portal experience
• Modernized reports

Advanced Analytics

• Not avaliable

Hybrid Cloud

• Stretch Database
• Backup to Azure

Developer Edition

SQL Server Developer is now a free edition providing the full feature set of SQL Server Enterprise. For development and test only, and not for production environments or use with production data.

What's in SQL Server 2016 With Service Pack 1 (April 2017):

With SQL Server 2016 SP1, we are making key innovations more accessible to developers and organizations across all SQL Server editions, so it will be easier than ever to build advanced applications that scale across editions as your business needs grow. Developers and application partners can now build to a common programming surface across all editions when creating or upgrading intelligent applications and use the edition which scales to the application’s needs.

With SQL Server 2016 SP1, we want to make it easier than ever for developers and partners to build and upgrade applications that take advantage of advanced performance, security, and data mart capabilities.  SQL Server 2016 with Service Pack 1 also offers the most consistent platform from on-premises to cloud with industry leading TCO for applications of all sizes.  Standard edition sets the bar for rich programming capabilities, security innovations, and fast performance for mid-tier applications and data marts. You can also easily upgrade to Enterprise edition for mission critical capabilities as your workload scales, without having to re-write your app. Enterprise edition continues to deliver the highest levels of mission critical scalability, availability, and performance as well as maximum virtualization through licensing rights that come with software assurance.

The capabilities in SQL Server 2016 with SP1 include:

• Faster transaction performance from In-memory OLTP, faster query performance from In-memory ColumnStore, and the ability to combine the two for real-time Hybrid Transactional and Analytical Processing, also known as Operational Analytics;
• Data warehousing or data mart performance features such as partitioning, compression, change data capture, database snapshot, and the ability to query across structured and unstructured data with a single node of PolyBase; and
• The innovative security feature Always Encrypted for encryption at rest and in motion, as well as fine-grained auditing which captures more detailed audit information for your compliance reporting needs. In addition, row-level security and dynamic data masking are being made available to Express edition for the first time.

This is also exciting for customers and partners who are currently using older versions of SQL Server Standard edition, and now have more great reasons to modernize or upgrade their applications and take advantage of the new features in SQL Server 2016.

We encourage SQL Server 2016 customers to start taking advantage of the great capabilities in Service Pack 1 today. In addition to the features newly available to your application, Service Pack 1 also contains fixes released in Cumulative Updates (CUs) 1, 2 and 3 and the supportability and diagnostics improvements first introduced in SQL Server 2014 SP2. All SQL Server 2016 customers can download Service Pack 1 from the Microsoft Download Center.

If you haven’t moved to SQL Server 2016 yet, but are ready to start evaluating all the great features now available, you can create an Azure VM with SQL Server 2016 SP1.

Hardware and Software Requirements

The following requirements apply to all SQL Server 2016 installations:

• .NET Framework:

o   SQL Server 2016 require .NET Framework 4.6 for the Database Engine, Master Data Services, or Replication. SQL Server 2016 setup automatically installs .NET Framework. You can also manually install .NET Framework from Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6 (Web Installer) for Windows.

• Windows 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2:

o   Require KB2919355 before installing .NET Framework 4.6.

• Supported operating systems for SQL Server 2016 have built-in network software.

o   Note: Shared memory and VIA are not supported on failover clusters.

• Also note that the VIA protocol is deprecated. This feature will be removed in a future version of Microsoft SQL Server. Avoid using this feature in new development work, and plan to modify applications that currently use this feature.
• Hard Disk

o   SQL Server 2016 requires a minimum of 6 GB of available hard-disk space.

• Disk space requirements will vary with the SQL Server 2016 components you install.
• Drive

o   A DVD drive, as appropriate, is required for installation from disc.

• Monitor

o   SQL Server 2016 requires Super-VGA (800x600) or higher resolution monitor.

• Internet

o   Internet functionality requires Internet access (fees may apply).

The following memory and processor requirements apply to all editions of SQL Server 2016:

• Express Editions:

o   512 MB

• All other editions:

o   1 GB

• Recommended:
• Express Editions:

o   1 GB

• All other editions:

o   At least 4 GB and should be increased as database size increases to ensure optimal performance.

• Processor Speed

o   Minimum: x64 Processor: 1.4 GHz

• Recommended:

o   2.0 GHz or faster

• Processor Type:

o   x64 Processor: AMD Opteron, AMD Athlon 64, Intel Xeon with Intel EM64T support, Intel Pentium IV with EM64T support

Please Notice the following:

• Installation of SQL Server 2016 is supported on x64 processors only. It is no longer supported on x86 processors.
• Picture 1 is promotional only, picture 2 and 3 are the actual item.
• The software comes with retail Core License, making them good in a production / live setup.
• If you have any question, please don’t hesitate to ask. We will do all we can to answer you within one business day.
• When you order, we always ship the item within 3 business days. The delivery time depends on the shipping method you chose, when you ordered.
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