News

SQL Server 2012 Hits RTM Milestone

• By Kurt Mackie
• March 6, 2012

SQL Server 2012 has hit its release-to-manufacturing milestone and is available for testing as an evaluation version (available for download here), Microsoft announced today.

The "general availability" version is set for release on April 1, according to Doug Leland, general manager of Microsoft's business platform marketing group, in a phone interview on Monday. SQL Server 2012 will be available in three editions: Enterprise, Business Intelligence and Standard. For this release, the Datacenter edition was dropped, with many of its licensing benefits having been rolled into the Enterprise edition.

As with other products, Microsoft is changing the licensing basis from processors to cores, based on a minimum of four cores per processor. The licensing limits are 16 cores for the BI and Standard editions and 20 cores for the Enterprise edition. The company is currently working on enhancing its Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit to make it easier for organizations to estimate the licensing changes, according to Tom Bartlett, director of SQL Server pricing and licensing, at a SQL Server 2012 workshop event held last month. For more on the licensing changes, please see this article.

SQL Server 2012, when released, can be self-built, based on reference architecture or purchased as an appliance. Microsoft recommends the HP Enterprise Database Consolidation Appliance, which is currently available. The appliance will be updated when System Center 2012 ships, according to Darmadi Komo, senior technical product manager for SQL Server 2012, at the workshop event. System Center 2012 is currently at the release candidate stage, with expectations for release in April.

Read the full in-depth analysis of SQL Server 2012 by clicking here.