Overview

Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system (RDBMS) produced by Microsoft. Its primary query language is Transact-SQL, an implementation of the ANSI/ISO standard Structured Query Language (SQL) used by both Microsoft and Sybase. SQL Server is commonly used by businesses for small- to medium-sized databases, but the past five years have seen greater adoption of the product for larger enterprise databases.

The code base for Microsoft SQL Server (prior to version 7.0) originated in Sybase SQL Server, and was Microsoft's entry to the enterprise-level database market, competing against Oracle, IBM, and, later, Sybase itself. Microsoft, Sybase and Ashton-Tate originally teamed up to create and market the first version named SQL Server 1.0 for OS/2 (about 1989) which was essentially the same as Sybase SQL Server 3.0 on Unix, VMS, etc. Microsoft SQL Server 4.2 was shipped around 1992 (available bundled with Microsoft OS/2 version 1.3). Later Microsoft SQL Server 4.21 for Windows NT was released at the same time as Windows NT 3.1. Microsoft SQL Server v6.0 was the first version of SQL Server that was architected for NT and did not include any direction from Sybase.

About the time Windows NT was coming out, however, Sybase and Microsoft parted ways and pursued their own design and marketing schemes. Microsoft negotiated exclusive rights to all versions of SQL Server written for Microsoft operating systems. Later, Sybase changed the name of its product to Adaptive Server Enterprise to avoid confusion with Microsoft SQL Server. Until 1994 Microsoft's SQL Server carried three Sybase copyright notices as an indication of its origin.

Since parting ways, several revisions have been done independently. SQL Server 7.0 was the first true GUI based database server and was a rewrite away from the legacy Sybase code. A variant of SQL Server 2000 was the first commercial database for the Intel IA64 architecture. During this time there was a rivalry between Microsoft and Oracle for winning over the enterprise market.

The current version, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, was released in November of 2005. The launch took place alongside Visual Studio 2005. The SQL Server 2005 Express Edition is currently available for free download. The Microsoft SQL Server product is not just a database; it also contains (as part of the product) an enterprise ETL tool (SQL Server Integration Services or SSIS), a Reporting Server, an OLAP implementation, and several messaging technologies, specifically Service Broker and Notification Services.
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