SQL Server 2017 (RTM – Release to Manufacturing version – 14.1709.3807.1.) released by Microsoft on 2nd October 2017 with the bundle of new features. This version is packed with support for Linux, automatic tuning and other enhancements that can enhance and simplify the use of the database platform.
The First product of SQL Server launched by Microsoft launched in 1989 and named it as SQL Server 1.0, a 16-bit server for the OS/2 operating system. Till date, different versions were launched by Microsoft as listed below:
- SQL Server 2000
- SQL Server 2005
- SQL Server 2008
- SQL Server 2008 R2
- SQL Server 2012
- SQL Server 2014
- SQL Server 2016
- SQL Server 2017
From SQL Server 2016 onwards, the product is supported only on x64 processors.
SQL Server 2017 includes some features like –
1. SQL Server on Linux
SQL Server is not only Windows-based RDBMS even it can run on a different flavor of Linux operating systems. You can develop applications with SQL Server on Linux, Windows, Ubuntu, or Docker and deploy them as well on these platforms. SQL Server can now compete with other RDBMS like Oracle which is more popular on Linux.
2. Adaptive Query Processing
Adaptive Query Processing is the new feature introduced in SQL Server 2017. Adaptive Query Processing improvements adapts optimization strategies to your application workload’s runtime conditions. Cardinality estimation process helps to estimate the number of rows processed in execution plan at each and every step during optimization.
Sometimes, the query optimizer makes poor decisions regarding algorithm selection and order of operations. When estimates are inaccurate at that time we do not change our query plan execution strategy during execution.
3. Resumable Online Index Rebuild
Resumable Online Index Rebuild allows you to resume an online index rebuild operation from where it stopped after a failure like running out of disk space or database failure. It uses the small amount of log space to rebuild indexes. You can also pause and resume ongoing index rebuild operation. It also helps to avoid out-of-log errors.
4. Automatic Database Tuning
Automatic tuning is a database feature which helps to fix identified problems automatically by recommend solutions. In SQL server Automatic tuning notifies you if an unrealized performance issue detected. It helps you to take the preventive measure and corrections even its database engine automatically fixes the performance problems.
5. Graph Database Capabilities
SQL Server introduced new feature Graph Database Capabilities to model many-to-many relationships. Using SQL Server as the foundational database management system, the graph relationships are integrated into Transact-SQL.
6. Clusterless Availability Groups
Using this feature we can configure AOAG\Alwayson Availability Group without windows cluster in SQL Server 2017. Now if you want to configure AOAG between windows and Linux based SQL Servers, you don’t need a windows cluster in place.
7. Cross-OS AOAG
Microsoft has given an option for clusterless AOAG, using which we can configure AOAG between windows based SQL Server and Linux based SQL Server, which helps you enable cross-OS migrations and testing.
8. New Functions
In SQL Server 2017 few new functions are also added. Below is the list of those new functions:
9. New DMVs(Dynamic Management Views)
SQL Server 2017 also has few new DMV introduced. Below is the list of those new DMVs.
- sys.dm_tran_version_store_space_usage
- sys.dm_db_stats_histogram
- sys.dm_exec_query_statistics_xml
- sys.dm_os_host_info
- sys.dm_db_file_space_usage
10. New DMFs(Dynamic Management Functions)
With all these, SQL Server 2017 has few new DMFs also added to it. Below is the list of those new DMFs.
- sys.dm_db_log_info
- sys.dm_db_log_stats
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