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Birth of SQL Server

SQL Server is a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) manufactured by Microsoft. The prior versions of SQL Server 6.0 are SQL Server 1.0 and SQL Server 4.2 (which most of the recent developers doesn't even know they were exist) originated from Sybase SQL Server. The first version SQL Server 1.0 was developed in 1989 and was developed for the operating systems such as OS/2, Unix, VMS etc. This was the Microsoft's entry to the enterprise-level database market.   

Evolution of SQL Server

The SQL Server community anticipated a greater improvements in SQL Server 7 from SQL Server 6.5, It did really meat the expectations of the community. It was a tremendous success in making a GUI based database. A truly innovative release of SQL Server 7 left all the dependencies with OS/2 and the Unix environment from which SQL Server initially emerged. The release of SQL Server 2000 demonstrated even more dramatic improvements. Although it was impressive, the improvements from SQL Server 7 to SQL Server 2000 but, were not the same magnitude of the improvements from SQL Server 6.5 to SQL Server 7. SQL Server is always easier to program against and is one of the most easiest RDBMS to manage. Right after the release of SQL Server 2000, it was declared that the code name "Yukon" as the next version of SQL Server that is in development at Microsoft. After successful testing and acceptance of Yukon's Beta 2, it was declared as SQL Server 2005. The stability, scalability and performance of the SQL Server 2005 were very impressive. But the greatest improvement is the introduction of .NET framework. The DTS of earlier version is completely removed and replaced with far better tool called SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). The introduction of Database Mail in SQL Server 2005 removed the earlier version's need for MAPI mail client configured on the server to facilitate email and pager notifications for administrative and programmatic purposes. The scalability, performance enhancements in the database engine including filtered indexes and statistics, new table and query hints and new query performance and query processing features are loaded in SQL Server 2008 

Year

Release Name

OS

Code Name

Description

1988

SQL Server 1.0

OS/2, Unix, VMS

-

Initially SQL Server was jointly built with Sybase.

1992

SQL Server 4.2

Win NT

-

A low-functionality, desktop database, capable of meeting the data storage and handling needs of a small department. The concept of a database that was integrated with Windows and had an easy-to-use interface proved popular.

1994

 

 

 

Microsoft splits from Sybase.

1995

SQL Server 6.0

 

First version designed exclusively for Windows NT

SQL95

The objective of this version is to tap into the Small Business market, which had been ignored by the major RDBMS manufacturers. Major rewrite of the core database engine. First “significant” release, improved performance and significant feature enhancements. Still a long way behind in terms of the performance and feature set of later versions, but with this version, SQL Server became capable of handling small e-commerce and intranet applications, and was a fraction of the cost of its competing products in the market.

1996

SQL Server 6.5

Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000

Hydra

GUI to access the database in introduced in this milestone of SQL Server evolution. SQL Server was gaining prominence such that Oracle brought out version 7.1 on the NT platform as direct competition.

1998

SQL Server 7.0

Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows 98

Sphinx

This is claimed to be the first version of GUI based database and A major rewrite from the legacy Sybase code. A defining release, providing a reasonably powerful and feature rich database that was a truly viable (and still cheap) alternative for small-to-medium businesses, between a true desktop database such as MS Access and the high-end enterprise capabilities (and high priced) of Oracle and DB2. Gained a good reputation for ease of use and for providing crucial business tools such as Analysis Services, Data Transformation Services (DTS) out of the box, which were expensive add-ons with competing databases products in the market.

1999

SQL Server 7.0 OLAP tools

Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000

Plato

Online analytical processing (OLAP) is an increasingly popular technology that can improve business analysis dramatically, but one that has been characterized historically by expensive tools. OLAP was difficult implementation and an inflexible deployment. Microsoft has addressed the OLAP problem by introducing the OLAP tools and provided a solution that makes multidimensional analysis accessible to a broader audience and significantly lowered the cost of ownership. Microsoft also introduced the Data warehousing framework into the market at the same time

2000

SQL Server 2000  (SQL Server 8.0)

Win NT, Windows 2000 (server). Desktop Engine supports pretty much all windows OS versions in market except Windows CE

Shiloh

Vastly improved performance scalability and reliability sees SQL Server become a major player in the enterprise database market. A big increase in price tag compared to earlier versions (although still reckoned to be about half the cost of competing products in market) yet an excellent range of management, development, and analysis tools introduced.

2003

SQL Server 2000 64-bit Edition

Windows Server 2003 64-Bit

Liberty

This is the introduction of SQL Server into 64-bit environment and is the time when windows operating system coming on 64-bit environment.

2005

SQL Server 2005

Windows 2000 Server, Win 2K Adv. Server,

Win XP Home and Pro (Dev and Exp editions only), Windows 2003 server

Yukon

Many areas of SQL Server have been rewritten, such as the ability to load data via a utility called SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), but the greatest enhancement is the introduction of the .NET Framework. This allowed .NET SQL Server– specific objects to be built. This provided SQL Server the flexible functionality that Oracle gained by including Java. It also introduced the capability of writing stored procedures using any .Net languages instead of only SQL language that only could be used for writing stored procedures in prior versions. Introduced New Service broker, which is a technology for building database-intensive applications that are secure, scalable and reliable. This will provide message queues that applications use to communicate requests and responses

2008

SQL Server 2008

Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows XP Pro, Vista - Ultimate, business and enterprise (Std. Edition)

Katmai

Scalability and performance enhancements in the Database Engine include filtered indexes and statistics, new table and query hints, and new query performance and query processing features. It is built on the infrastructure of SQL Server 2005 by offering new data types and the use of Language Integrated Query (LINQ). It also deals with data, such as XML, compact devices, and massive database installations that reside in many different places. Manageability of the database engine is simplified with enhanced tools and monitoring features.