SP1 delivers on this vision in the following ways:

SP1 delivers production-ready Database Mirroring functionality for continuous availability. This complements the existing Always On Technologies in SQL Server 2005 such as failover clustering, database snapshots, snapshot isolation and log shipping. Since launch, Database Mirroring has been extensively tested by Microsoft and its thriving customer community to help ensure that it provides the high availability necessary for the largest customer deployments. Today more than 20 SQL Server customers have deployed Database Mirroring into production.

“Due to the nature of our shipping business, we needed a system that could support us around the clock, and that means high availability,” said Fabio Catassi, chief technology officer of Mediterranean Shipping Co. “Since SQL Server 2005’s launch, we’ve been involved with the Database Mirroring testing, and we are so confident in the feature that we’ve already deployed it into our production. We have a large global company and need a reliable, scalable solution, and SQL Server 2005 delivers that for us.”

SP1 extends business insight to smaller-scale customers and ISVs using the free SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, which includes SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) functionality, Full Text Search and the newly released SQL Server Management Studio Express. This optional set of capabilities is already receiving positive feedback from Microsoft’s ISV partners.

“By leveraging SQL Server 2005 Express Edition as the enabling technology for our Pivotal Mobile CRM application, we can provide our customers with complete access to their critical functionality and data,” said Eric Musser, chief technology officer and executive vice president of corporate strategy at Pivotal Corp. “SQL Server 2005 Express Edition delivers optimal performance to our customers, and they benefit from its ease of administration.”