what is an SQLserver,tell me some basics?

Answer 1

After a late 1993 decision to become a mainstream database management system vendor, Microsoft began work on its first in-housedeveloped version of SQL Server. Prior to that point, Microsoft was a porting partner for Sybase SQL Server, adapting it to Microsoft operating systems and enhancing it with tools more suitable for the workgroup and departmental environments that used Microsoft-based servers. In 1995 Microsoft shipped SQL Server 6.0, and followed it up with SQL Server 6.5 in 1996. These two releases, developed entirely in-house, based on the Sybase architecture and code, allowed Microsoft to push beyond its original workgroup and departmental markets into some enterprise applications. But even before SQL Server 6.0 shipped, work had begun on a revolutionary new SQL Server. A new query processor, cursor engine, database API (OLE DB), and other database management system components were already under development. And initial discussions to acquire OLAP technology had already taken place.

SQL Server's transformation was planned as three releases. The first release would focus on the basic re-architecture of SQL Server and making it suitable for enterprise use. The second release would be a quick-turnaround release to address key customer concerns and plug any critical competitive holes that had emerged. And the third release would be the one where Microsoft could fully exploit the new architecture to address a broad range of new customer requirements.

With the first release, SQL Server 7.0, Microsoft successfully ripped out the internals it had inherited from Sybase and replaced them with the new technology it had developed in-house. This approach, rather than building a new database system completely from scratch, was employed to retain compatibility for the thousands of applications already running on SQL Server. Customers experienced major improvements in reliability, scalability, performance, and manageability. SQL Server also became the first database product to incorporate all the tools necessary for building data warehouses when it included both extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) tools and an online analytical processing (OLAP) engine. With its Distributed Query feature and OLE DB architecture, it also became the first database system to make heterogeneous data access a standard integrated capability. Replication, a SQL Server strong-suit since version 6.0, underwent a major upgrade in capabilities. Perhaps most importantly, SQL Server 7.0 focused on automating or eliminating many of the tuning and management demands that had historically been required of database systems.

The second release, SQL Server 2000, was a refinement of SQL Server 7.0. XML was just emerging as an interesting topic in computing, and the SQL Server team became convinced that adding support for XML was critical. Materialized (a.k.a. indexed) views, originally envisioned as a feature for the third release, had become a hot requirement as a result of the then-popular TPC-D benchmark. And numerous modest performance, scalability, and availability improvements were incorporated to enable SQL Server to continue to meet enterprise requirements. Subsequently to the initial release of SQL Server 2000, SQL Server was enhanced with better support for mainframe-class servers such as the HP Superdome, Unisys ES/7000, and 64-bit Intel Itanium-based servers; a major security update; new XML capabilities; and new Reporting Services and Notification Services modules. The new Reporting Services feature, along with major OLAP upgrades and new data mining capabilities included in the initial SQL Server 2000 release, and various server upgrades such as materialized views, made SQL Server 2000 a leading data warehousing platform.

Work on SQL Server 2005 began late in 2000, with a goal of delivering on most of the remaining capabilities envisioned in the original three-release plan. Leading the priorities, the original vision of "Visual Basic stored procedures" had evolved to be full support for the Microsoft .NET CLR (and thus all CLR languages). As anticipated with SQL Server 2000, XML had indeed become a major force in the application development world, and it would become core to nearly all new work in SQL Server 2005. Along with these technology shifts, new features such as direct HTTP access and subsystems such as Service Broker would enable a greatly enhanced SQL Server application model. On the data warehousing front, Analysis Services would receive a major overhaul, and SQL Server's Data Transformation Services would be replaced by a new enterprise-class ETL tool. At the same time, nearly every other area of SQL Server would receive major upgrades.

Answer 2

Advaita Vedanta is considered as the most influential sub-school of the Vedānta Other sub-schools of Vedānta are Dvaita and Viśishṭādvaita. Advaita (literally, non-duality) is a monistic system of thought. "Advaita" refers to the identity of the Self (Atman) and the Whole (Brahman). The key source texts for all schools of Vedānta are the Prasthanatrayi—the canonical texts consisting of the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras. The first person to explicitly consolidate the principles of Advaita Vedanta was Adi Shankara, while the first historical proponent was Gaudapada, the guru of Shankara's guru Govinda Bhagavatpada. Salient features of Advaita Vedanta Three levels of truth The transcendental or the Pāramārthika level in which Brahman is the only reality and nothing else; The pragmatic or the Vyāvahārika level in which both Jiva (living creatures or individual souls) and Iswara are true; here, the material world is also true, and, The apparent or the Prāthibhāsika level in which material world reality is actually false, like illusion of a snake over a rope or a dream. The impact of Advaita Advaita rejuvenated much of Hindu thought and also spurred debate with the two main theistic schools of Vedanta philosophy that were formalized later: Vishishtadvaita (qualified nondualism), and Dvaita (dualism). Advaita further helped to merge the old Vedic religion with popular south-Asian cults/deities, thus making a bridge between higher types of practice (such as jnana yoga) and devotional religion of simple householders

Answer 3

Normally one just says "SQL Server", without the "an". SQL Server is a relational database program made by Microsoft. Other relational database programs include Oracle, Sybase, MySQL, PostgreSQL. You'll find that products like these run on most operating systems including Windows, MacOS X and Linux. Their prices range from free (for community editions of MySQL and PostgreSQL) to tens of thousands of dollars to acquire a license, plus yearly license maintenance fees (big Oracle systems), even more.

A database server is a program designed to act as a storage and organization system for data. Unlike most programs users frequently interact with, it's not so much designed to be used directly but rather as a sort of engine or component to be built into a larger system. A database server receives instructions using a language called SQL. You can learn it yourself, but more often it's used by programmers.

If you want to talk to a database system yourself, there are databases designed to be easier for end users to use directly. They include products like Microsoft Access, Filemaker Pro, Fourth Dimension or OpenOffice.org's Base. Although they are not necessarily intended to store as much data or operate as quickly as the larger database server programs, they will include tools using graphical interfaces to make it easier to set up and use a small database from scratch.

There are other programs, but hopefully that's a starting point.

Answer 4

SQL Server is a Microsoft's database. There is the latest version of SQL Server and it is called SQL Server 2005. If you want to learn the basics and more about it go to http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/sql/learning/default.aspx
This site is based on the SQL Server 2005 express edition although what you learned from this website can also be used tin SQL Server 2005 standard or professional edition.

Answer 5

Here are some basic primers on SQL


http://www.htmlgoodies.com/primers/database/ :)
Enjoy!

Answer 6

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/ is a comprehensive website on this.