What’s new in SQL Server 2014 (CTP1)

The release of SQL Server 2014 (CTP1) has brought good amount of new features and enhancements. Some of the notable features are presented below.

Database Engine Enhancement:

• In-Memory OLTP for ~10X performance gains by moving most used tables into memory.
• Updatable and clustered column store indexes for faster retrieval.
• Enhanced query processing for better performance without app changes.
• Buffer Pool extension to SSDs for faster paging.
• Resource Governor controls IO along with CPU and memory.
• Enhanced Always On now supports 8 secondary for better HA (High Availability)

Business Intelligence Enhancement:

• Power Query (formally codename “Data Explorer”) in Excel makes easy to access Internal and External data (both Relational and Non-Relational).
• Power Map (formally codename “Geo Flow”) in Excel can be used to get insights with 3D visualization.
• Parallel Data Warehouse with Polybase to support querying Big Data with T-SQL.

Cloud support Enhancement:

• Simplified cloud Backup and Deployment lets you Backup and Restore from SQL Azure/Windows Azure VM to SQL Server and vice-versa.
• HA/Always On in Azure helps to handle disaster recovery.