Microsoft to raise prices, add more high-end editions with SQL Server 2008 R2

With the new version of its database due out by mid-2010, Microsoft is increasing its retail prices. It also is adding two new high-end editions of SQL Server 2008 R2 to its line-up.

Microsoft is planning to make the next Community Technology Preview (CTP) test build of SQL Server 2008 R2 -- which will be feature-complete -- available later this month, but officials declined to specify a date. The timing is "aligned with" the public beta of Office 2010, which many are expecting around mid-month. Customers can sign up today for notification about the November SQL Server 2008 R2 CTP. Microsoft released a first CTP of SQL Server 2008 R2 (codenamed "Kilimanjaro") in August.

Microsoft went public with these details on the opening day of its PASS Summit, its SQL Server user group conference, on November 3.

The two new versions of SQL Server will be a Datacenter edition and a Parallel Data Warehouse edition (formerly codenamed "Project Madison"). The Datacenter edition builds on the SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise product, but adds application and multi-server management; virtualization; high-scale complex event processing (via StreamInsight); and supports more than 8 processors and up to 256 logical processors. The Parallel Data Warehouse version will be sold preloaded on servers as a data warehouse appliance. Using the DataAllegro technology Microsoft acquired in 2008, it will scale customers' data warehouses from the tens of terabytes, up to one petabyte plus range, according to the company.

Microsoft isn't increasing the Server/Client Access License (CAL) pricing -- which is the primary way its customers buy SQL Server, officials said -- with the new release. But the new SQL 2008 R2 retail pricing is as follows: Standard: $7,500 (Per Processor), or $100/Server + $162/CAL (a $1,500 increase over SQL 2008 Standard) Enterprise $28,800 (Per Processor), or $9.900/Server + $162/CAL (a $3,800 increase over SQL 2008 Enterprise) Datacenter $57,500 (Per Processor), Not offered via Server/CAL (no previous version available) Parallel Data Warehouse: $57,500 (Per Processor), Not offered via Server/CAL (no previous version available)

No pricing information was available for other R2 versions of SQL Server, including the Workgroup, Web and Developer, company officials said. For the four aforementioned versions, there will be discounts available for customers purchasing via volume licenses, Microsoft officials said.

Microsoft's SQL Server team has focused on pricing as one of its main differentiators from its database competition, especially Oracle, so any kind of price increase is a sensitive topic. Company officials said they hadn't "adjusted" database prices since the introduction of SQL Server 2005. Microsoft is still not charging per core like Oracle does; instead, it charges per processor, which benefits users who run databases on multicore servers.

Microsoft officials said the increase in prices for the Standard and Enterprise editions reflects the inclusion of new features to the core product, such as Master Data Services, StreamInsight, PowerPivot, and data compression.

One industry watcher was not fazed by Microsoft's price increase.

"It's about time" Microsoft raised SQL Server's price, said Mark Beyer, an analyst with the Gartner Group. "The amount is reasonable, the per socket is still better than any percentage per core that other vendors use, and SQL 2008 R2 remains a solid value for the price."

Beyer said the newest SQL Server release is important because of the new business insight functionality, plus the and data warehouse integration with other Microsoft enterprise applications, like SharePoint, that the product offers.

"Integration is more in-depth. Integration includes calling other applications as services and directly processing that other application's metadata. This is different from interoperability where files, parameters or metadata is passed back-and-forth," Beyer said.

Meyer characterized the SQL Server 2008 R2 release as being incremental for Microsoft's existing database customers, but as a "ground shift" for Microsoft because of this integration.

The final version of SQL Server 2008 R2 is slated to ship by mid-2010. (I'd guess that will happen right around the time Office 2010 launches, which is expected to be May/June, since SharePoint requires SQL Server).