What is the Difference Between MS SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2?

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The main differences between MS SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 are as follows:

  1. Scalability and Performance: SQL Server 2008 R2 supports up to 256 logical processors, while SQL Server 2008 supports only 64 logical processors. This improvement in R2 helps enhance performance and scalability for large data warehousing applications.
  2. Database Size: The maximum database size supported by SQL Server Express has been increased from 4 GB to 10 GB in SQL Server 2008 R2.
  3. Visual Features: SQL Server 2008 R2 has more visual features than SQL Server 2008, including enhancements in data analysis and data management.
  4. Business Intelligence (BI) Improvements: SQL Server 2008 R2 has made BI more efficient, although the specific differences are not explicitly mentioned in the search results.
  5. New and Enhanced Features: SQL Server 2008 R2 contains all the features that exist in SQL Server 2008, with additional features such as Extended Protection, Master Data Services, StreamInsight, ReportBuilder 3.0, and SQL Server Utility named UC (Utility Control Point).

In summary, SQL Server 2008 R2 offers improved scalability, performance, visual features, and BI capabilities compared to SQL Server 2008. It also includes new and enhanced features that are not present in the earlier version.

Comparative Table: MS SQL Server 2008 vs 2008 R2

The question seems to be asking for a comparison between MS SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2. However, there is no such thing as MS SQL Server 2008 R2. The correct version is SQL Server 2008 RTM (Release to Manufacturing), which is different from SQL Server 2008 R2 (Release 2). I will provide a comparison table between SQL Server 2008 RTM and SQL Server 2008 R2.

Feature SQL Server 2008 RTM SQL Server 2008 R2
Date and Time Data Types Limited to DATETIME, SMALLDATETIME, DATE, TIMESTAMP, and TIMESTAMP Introduced new date and time data types: DATE, TIME, DATETIMEOFFSET, and TIMESTAMPOFFSET
Hierarchical Tree Structures Difficult to represent and store in relational tables Introduced HIERARCHYID data type to store values representing the position of nodes in a hierarchal tree structure
File Stream Not available Introduced FILESTREAM data type for handling large binary objects directly in the file system
Merge Replication Support Limited to SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Edition Merge replication support added for Standard Edition and updated for Enterprise Edition
PowerPivot for SharePoint Not available Introduced PowerPivot for SharePoint, a self-service BI tool that leverages the cloud to easily share insights across organizations

Please note that the information provided is based on the available search results, which do not provide a direct comparison between the two versions. The table above highlights some of the key differences between SQL Server 2008 RTM and SQL Server 2008 R2.