If you are reading this post you have of course heard the term DataBase… Depending who you are and what you do for a living that term may or may not mean anything to you. If you are a DBA (DataBase Administrator) look away! This post is not for you. lol This post is intended for those who have no idea what a database is or what Microsoft SQL Server is or why they should care.
OK so now that we’ve got that out of the way on with the definition.
What is SQL Server?
SQL Server is Microsoft’s RDBMS (Relational DataBase Management System). Like its competitor Oracle, Microsoft’s SQL Server is the database applications that a website or other application might use to store its list of Customers, Orders, Products and Employees. If you have booked a flight reservation on line (or by phone) or you have a Costco or Netflix member ship then you have no doubt been exposed to a database and perhaps even had your purchasing habits stored in the database and used to market products to you that the vendor knows you want. Put simply Microsoft SQL Server is a DataBase product used to store the data collected and used by a variety of computer software applications. It is a giant electronic file cabinet for your computer based data.
These days most organizations (Microsoft shops) are running Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or Microsoft SQL Server 2008R2. You can install Microsoft SQL Server 2008R2 software on a server in your office or you can run SQL Server in the Cloud! For more information about Microsoft SQL Server in the cloud see the following article: Introduction to the Cloud and Windows Azure
