SQL Server 2008 R2 Editions and Key Features

The release of SQL Server is officially called SQL Server 2008 R2, which replaces the code name SQL Server Kilimanjaro. 

SQL Server 2008 R2 edition will come into below different flavors
 

1. Data Center Edition


2. Parallel Data Warehouse


3. Enterprise Edition


4. Standard Edition

 

List of Key features
 
Data Center Edition

• Application and Multi-Server Management for enrolling, gaining insights and managing over 25 instances, During the airlift event Microsoft Program Manager mentioned that  they have tested this feature by adding more than 200 servers


• Highest virtualization support for maximum ROI on consolidation and virtualization


• High-scale complex event processing with SQL Server StreamInsight


• Supports more than 8 processors and up to 256 logical processors for highest levels of scale


• Supports memory limits up to OS maximum

 
Parallel Data Warehouse

• 10s to 100s TBs enabled by massively parallel processing architecture and compatibility with hardware partners


• Advanced data warehousing capabilities like Star Join Queries and Change Data Capture


• Integration with SSIS, SSRS, and SSAS


• Supports industry standard data warehousing hub and spoke architecture and parallel database copy

 
Enterprise Edition

• PowerPivot for SharePoint to support the hosting and management of PowerPivot applications in SharePoint


• Application and Multi-Server Management for enrolling, gaining insights and managing up to 25 instances (CPU and Storage). Microsoft is planning to cover Memory in the next release


• Master Data Services for data consistency across heterogeneous systems


• Data Compression now enabled with UCS-2 Unicode support

Standard Edition

• Backup Compression to reduce data backups by up to 60% and help reduce time spent on backups


• Managed instance for Application and Multi-Server Management capabilities

Reference: Microsoft Books Online and SQL Server 2008 R2 Airlift Event