Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 is the most advanced, trusted, and scalable data
platform released to date. Building on the success of the original SQL Server 2008
release, SQL Server 2008 R2 has made an impact on organizations worldwide with its
groundbreaking capabilities, empowering end users through self-service business intelligence
(BI), bolstering efficiency and collaboration between database administrators (DBAs) and application
developers, and scaling to accommodate the most demanding data workloads.
This chapter introduces the new SQL Server 2008 R2 features, capabilities, and editions
from a DBA’s perspective. It also discusses why Windows Server 2008 R2 is recommended
as the underlying operating system for deploying SQL Server 2008 R2. Last, SQL
Server 2008 R2 hardware and software requirements and installation strategies are also
identified.