SQL Server 2016 Service Pack 1 (SP1) released

Do not expect another standard service pack that contains all hot-fixes and updates done on the previous version, this has something else, it has a major change.

Yes, in addition to fixes and new features, Microsoft makes some of previously-unavailable-features (or Enterprise-only-features) available for Standard, Web, Express and LocalDB editions. This is amazing, specially, those who run large and heavy OLTP databases and who have data warehouses implemented in Standard Edition.

Whenever I do training and consultancy on data warehousing, this biggest hit I get is client is using Standard Edition and no partitioning can be done. Not only that, unavailability of Columnstore Indexing, In-Memory OLTP are few more. This sometime discourrages the client on BI implementation as they see many limitation with the Edition they have bought and unfortunaltely they cannot go for Enterprise because of the cost. This what Microsoft has addressed with SQL Server 2016 SP1 release.

Get the SQL Server 2016 SP1 from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=54276

Here are the features available now with Standard, Web and Express which were not available before;

You can read more on this at: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/sqlreleaseservices/sql-server-2016-service-pack-1-sp1-released/

SQL Server 2014 and 2012 new releases

Microsoft SQL Server team has done few releases related SQL Server 2014 and 2012 in last few months. You can download and upgrade your instances if required;

• Cumulative Update #2 for SQL Server 2014 SP1
• Cumulative Update #9 for SQL Server 2014 RTM
• Cumulative Update #7 for SQL Server 2012 SP2

If you want to understand about Cumulative Updates, please read this;
What are hotfixes, Cumulative Updates and Service Packs? 


For all update releases;

Version	Code Name	Initial Version	Updates
2014	Hekaton	12.00.2000.8	CU1: 12.0.2342.0 CU3: 12.0.2402 CU4: 12.0.2402 CU5: 12.0.2402 CU6: 12.0.2402 CU7: 12.0.2402 CU8: 12.0.2402 CU9: 12.0.2402  SP1: 12.0.4100.1 SP1: CU#1 12.0.4416.0 SP1: CU#2 12.0.4422.0
2012	Denali	11.00.2100	SP1: 11.00.3000 SP1: CU#7: 11.0.3393 SP1: CU#8: 11.0.3401 SP1: CU#9: 11.0.3412 SP1: CU#16 11.0.3492.0 SP2: 11.0.5058 SP2: HotFix – 11.0.5522 SP2: CU#1: 11.0.5532 SP2: CU#6: 11.0.5592.0 SP2: CU#7: 11.0.5623.0

What are hotfixes, Cumulative Updates and Service Packs?

No matter how hard the software has been tested, issues can be still encountered. Same applies to Microsoft SQL Server too and that is the reason we see numerous releases on same versions. These releases are published as a Hotfix, a Cumulative Update, or a Service Pack but what is the right time for applying these, should we apply them as soon as they are published?

Let's try to understand each of these SQL Server updates;

• Hotfixes: These are built and released for addressing urgent customer concerns. Most of the time, this is done based on an issue reported by a customer (or few customers) and the fix is released immediately. Since this addresses a particular issue and the release is done in a urgent manner, not much testing is done hence it is not recommended to apply a hotfix to a production environment as soon as it is released unless the same issue is being experienced.
  
• Cumulative Updates: Cumulative update is a bundle that holds a periodic roll-up releases of hotfixes. This goes through a test comparatively higher than testes done for each hotfix and the bundle is tested as a whole. In a way, this is more secure and advisable to apply rather than applying hotfixes individually. However, if possible, it is always better to wait till a service pack release as explained below.
  
• Service Packs: Service pack is a periodic release that addresses many issues which may have (or may have not) addressed with previous hotfixes and cumulative updates. This goes through a thorough test and it is safe to apply this to production environment. 

Cumulative Update 1 for SQL Server 2012 SP2

Microsoft has released Cumulative Update 1 for SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 2 and it is available for downloading.

Here is the link for downloading: http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=2976982&kbln=en-us

Here is the link for the list of bugs fixed:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2976982

Read this for understanding versions and service packs released for all SQL Server versions:http://dinesql.blogspot.com/2014/01/versions-and-service-packs-of-sql.html

Service Pack 2 is available for SQL Server 2012

Microsoft has released SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 2 and it is available for downloading.

Here is the link for downloading: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=43340

Here is the link for the list of bugs fixed: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/2958429

Read this for understanding versions and service packs released for all SQL Server versions: http://dinesql.blogspot.com/2014/01/versions-and-service-packs-of-sql.html

Cumulative Update packages for SQL Server 2008 R2, 2012, and 2014

Cumulative update #12 is available for SQL Server 2008 R2 SP2. Refer the following link for downloading it and understanding the fixes done.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2938478

Cumulative update #9 is available for SQL Server 2012 SP1. Refer the following link for downloading it and understanding the fixes done.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2931078

Cumulative update #1 is available for SQL Server 2014. Refer the following link for downloading it and understanding the fixes done.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2931693

For more info on SQL Server versions and service packs, refer:http://dinesql.blogspot.com/2014/01/versions-and-service-packs-of-sql.html

Cumulative update package 11 for SQL Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 2

Cumulative update #11 is available for SQL Server 2008 R2 SP2. Refer the following link for downloading it and understanding the fixes done.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2926028

For more info on SQL Server versions and service packs, refer:http://dinesql.blogspot.com/2014/01/versions-and-service-packs-of-sql.html

Cumulative update package 8 for SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1

Cumulative update #8 is available for SQL Server 2012 SP1. Refer the following link for downloading it and understanding the fixes done.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2917531

For more info on SQL Server versions and service packs, refer: http://dinesql.blogspot.com/2014/01/versions-and-service-packs-of-sql.html

Versions and Service Packs of SQL Server (2012, 2008 R2, 2008, 2005)

Have you installed all service packs and necessary patches for all your SQL Server instances? Check the version with this table, if not, get them downloaded and installed.

SQL Server	Code Name	Initial Version	Service Packs
2014	Hekaton	12.00.2000.8	CU1: 12.0.2342.0 CU3: 12.0.2402
2012	Denali	11.00.2100	SP1: 11.00.3000 SP1: CU#7: 11.0.3393 SP1: CU#8: 11.0.3401 SP1: CU#9: 11.0.3412 SP2: 11.0.5058 SP2: HotFix – 11.0.5522 SP2: CU#1: 11.0.5532
2008 R2	Kilimanjaro	10.50.1600.1	SP1: 10.50.2500 SP2: 10.50.4000 SP2: CU#11: 10.50.4302 SP2: CU#12: 10.50.4305
2008	Katmai	10.00.1600.22	SP1: 10.00.2531 SP2: 10.00.4000 SP3: 10.00.5500 SP3: CU#14: 10.00.5848
2005	Yukon	9.00.1399.06	SP1: 9.00.2047 SP2: 9.00.3042 SP3: 9.00.4035 SP4: 9.00.5000 SP4: CU#3: 9.00.5266

Here are couple of ways of determining the version of your SQL Server instance;

1. SQL Server Management Studio: Object Explorer

2. @@VERSION global variable

3. SERVERPROPERTY function

SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1–CTP is available for downloading

Microsoft announces the availability of Service Pack 1 as Community Technology Preview for SQL Server 2008 R2. Here are some of enhancements come with SP1;

• Dynamic Management Views for increased supportability
• ForceSeek for improved querying performance
• Data-tier Application Component Framework for improved database upgrades
• Disk space control for PowerPivot

Here is the link for downloading: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=bd200f8e-ba8a-45e3-af59-e28a9e2d17df&displaylang=en

Note that this is CTP, not for installing in live environment.

SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2 is available for downloading

SQL Server 2008 SP 2 is available for downloading now. Enhancements includes;

• 15K partitioning Improvement
• Reporting Services in SharePoint Integrated Mode
• SQL Server 2008 R2 Application and Multi-Server Management Compatibility with SQL Server 2008
• Data-tier Application (DAC) Support

Read more info on this and download from here.