Microsoft releases SQL Server 2005 beta

Microsoft began a wide beta testing program of its forthcoming SQL Server 2005 database on Monday, a much anticipated--and delayed--product central to the company's server software line.

The latest update of the database, which is code-named Yukon, introduces support for AMD's Opteron processor, which can run 32-bit and 64-bit Windows applications, Microsoft said. SQL Server 2005 beta 2 also adds a number of features for creating business reports and the ability to encrypt data within the database.

The second beta was slated to be available for download later Monday from Microsoft's developer site. While the first beta of SQL Server 2005 was limited to about 3,000 official testers, the second will be made available to about half a million programmers and SQL Server customers, the company said.

A third beta program is planned for the second half of this year and the final product is expected to be completed in the first half of next year. Microsoft earlier this year delayed the delivery of SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005, a programming tool tuned specifically to work with SQL Server 2005. Microsoft had expected to complete both products by the end of this year.

Microsoft said the second beta of SQL Server 2005 will also introduce a revamped management tool called Management Studio, which combines the capabilities of existing tuning tools with new administration programs for SQL Server Reporting Services and the mobile edition of SQL Server. Other enhancements include improved software for running complex analyses and the inclusion of so-called ETL (extract transform and load) tools for moving data from transaction systems into a data store for analysis.

Next year's planned arrival of SQL Server 2005, a core component of the company's fast-growing server software and development tools division, is expected to give Microsoft's database business a boost. The company has beefed up the capability of SQL Server so that it can compete more directly with IBM and Oracle for demanding computing jobs. Microsoft gained Windows database market share last year against its rivals, but Microsoft's overall growth slowed, according to market research firm Gartner.

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Windows XP Beta Shuts Out Nocona

Customers can now purchase workstations that use Intel's Nocona Xeon processor, with 64-bit extensions to the x86 instruction set, but they can't run the beta 64-bit version of Windows designed for those extensions on the new workstations.

The publicly available beta version of Windows XP 64-Bit Edition for 64-Bit Extended Systems can only be installed on systems with Advanced Micro Devices' Opteron and Athlon 64 processors, according to a Microsoft spokesperson. During the operating system installation process, Windows checks to see whether or not it is being installed on an AMD system. If it is not, the software cannot be installed, the spokesperson said.

Microsoft's developers "essentially required the AMD chips to work with the operating system, just simply because they hadn't tested with any other chips," he said. Independent hardware reviewer Andrew Miller highlighted the incompatibilties in his review of a new Nocona workstation at his Web site, one of a very few Nocona reviews to make it onto the Web following the chip's release.

Different Chips

The public beta for 64-bit Extended Systems was released in September 2003, before Intel had announced its plans to release the Nocona core. It has not been updated since then, and Microsoft's engineers wanted to ensure the beta operating system provided the same customer experience on Intel's chip as it does for AMD's chip before certifying it for Intel's chips.

There are some small differences between the instruction sets used in the two chips. Intel, for example, does not support AMD's 3DNow graphics instructions. Intel uses hyperthreading technology in its Xeon processors, but AMD does not.

AMD also uses two instructions designed to improve Opteron's ability to quickly switch back and forth between applications. The additional instructions were added after AMD published its design papers that Intel used to create the architecture for the Nocona chip. The instructions don't increase performance to any significant degree that most users would notice, according to analysts.

CPU Compatibilities

Aside from a few discrepancies, the chips are largely compatible. But even if they use the same instruction set, the chips don't have to use the same method to tell the operating system what instructions are available, said Kevin Krewell, editor in chief of the Microprocessor Report in San Jose, California.

For example, AMD's and Intel's 32-bit chips are compatible, but don't necessarily use the same code to let the operating system know what types of instructions are available, Krewell said. Right now, the beta version of the operating system is probably tuned to recognize only AMD's method of identifying its instructions, but it will be relatively easy for Microsoft to add support for Intel's code, he said.

Microsoft is working on a new public release of the 64-bit beta operating system, the company spokesperson said, but customers who have access to Microsoft's Tech Beta program will be able to preview the 64-bit OS on Intel-based workstations.

The Bank of New York, for example, was able to get a prerelease of the beta code, which it is using to test a statistical trading algorithm that it is running on Windows in 64-bit mode on Nocona workstations built by Hewlett-Packard, said Joe Weisbord, chief technology officer of the bank's G-Trade Division. His developers are using build number 1184 of the Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, he said.

Support on the Way

A beta version of Windows compatible with Intel's 64-bit extensions technology is expected to be released by the end of next month, according to sources close to Microsoft. Intel is planning to introduce a server chipset for its Nocona Xeon processors in August, right around the time the new beta version is expected.

The Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment on the exact timing of the updated beta release.

Intel and Microsoft have promised that the final versions of both Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 for 64-bit extended systems will run on Xeon and Opteron servers without any hitches. The production version of the operating system is expected in the fourth quarter.

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