Other attributes
Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system developed by Microsoft. As a database server, it is a software product with the primary function of storing and retrieving data as requested by other software applications—which may run either on the same computer or on another computer across a network (including the Internet). Microsoft markets at least a dozen different editions of Microsoft SQL Server, aimed at different audiences and for workloads ranging from small single-machine applications to large Internet-facing applications with many concurrent users.
MSSQL is a suite of database software published by Microsoft and used extensively within our enterprise. Typically, it includes a relational database engine, which stores data in tables, columns and rows, Integration Services (SSIS), which is a data movement tool for importing, exporting and transforming data, Reporting Services (SSRS), which is used to create reports and serve reports to end users, and also Analysis Services (SSAS), which is a multidimensional database used to query data from the main database engine.
Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) is widely used in enterprise deployments. MSSQL is a scalable data platform which includes several ETL (Extract, Transform and Load) tools and reporting services where data can be added, modified and queried using a standardized structured query language (SQL). MSSQL is an evolving data platform used for mission critical business and data solutions on premise, in the cloud and on hybrid platforms.
A Brief History of MSSQL
SQL syntax and MSSQL are related but distinct. SQL syntax is the language used to query databases, and MSSQL is the Microsoft database product suite which uses SQL syntax. The very first versions of SQL server were developed by Ashton Tate, Sybase and Microsoft between 1988 to 1993 and were built on Unix-based operating systems. As Microsoft started to dominate desktop operating systems in the early 1990’s, focus shifted to develop SQL Server for Windows. In 1993, SQL Server 4.21 was released, and this was the first SQL database platform created for Microsoft Windows to take advantage of the graphical user interface.
Up to now, Sybase had licensed their database technology to Microsoft; this technology was widely used in SQL Server, but the terms of the license did not allow Microsoft to change the source code without explicit consent from Sybase. In 1994, the companies parted ways, and Microsoft shifted development focus to release SQL Server 6.0 (SQL95). They quickly followed in 1996 with SQL Server 6.5, which introduced Internet and Data Warehousing support for the fledgling World Wide Web.
In 1998, Microsoft completely rewrote SQL Server 7.0 removing any legacy Sybase functions and adding a vast amount of new features. SQL Server 2000 was released to coincided with Windows Server 2000.iii This started off the SQL Server suite release cycle familiar today, all subsequent versions of SQL have been upgraded with added features and services and generally coincide with an Operating System release date.
