Those of you who are currently using Microsoft SQL Server 7 might not notice significant changes on the surface when you move to Microsoft SQL Server 2000. You will soon observe, however, that SQL Server 2000 includes many enhancements. One major enhancement is increased support for larger memory models. In fact, when you use SQL Server 2000 in conjunction with Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, you can access up to 64 gigabytes (GB) of physical memory. You might also be able to take advantage of enhanced Extensible Markup Language (XML) support, indexed views, and user-defined functions. As you begin using SQL Server 2000, you will also discover improvements in the tools, such as Enterprise Manager, Query Analyzer, and Profiler. SQL Server 2000 improves on SQL Server 7 in almost every area.

To those of you who are already familiar with SQL Server 7, this book will serve as a guide to the enhancements included in SQL Server 2000. To those of you who are new database administrators (DBAs) but are not necessarily familiar with SQL Server, this book will serve as an introduction to SQL Server technology. This book will help the novice get started.