Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2008 provides a trusted, productive, and intelligent data platform that enables you to run your most demanding mission critical applications

Trusted

Run your most mission critical applications on a secure, reliable, and scalable platform.

Protect Your Data

Dynamically encrypt your valuable data within an entire database, data files, or log files, without the need for application changes. Simplify increasing regulatory compliance by using the advanced data auditing abilities of SQL Server 2008. Minimize exposure for security attacks by using Surface Area Configuration to enable only the services you require.

Ensure Business Continuity

Seamlessly increase the reliability of applications with Database Mirroring. Simplify the recovery of applications from storage failures. Transfer operational data between the active operational systems and backup systems. Add system resources, like CPU and memory, without affecting applications.

Provide Predictable Response

Ensure consistent performance by using Resource Governor to define resource limits and priorities for different workloads and enable consistent performance. Reduce your storage costs and improve performance of large I/O bound workloads by using data compression.

Be More Productive

Reduce the cost of managing your data infrastructure while streamlining development of data applications.

Spend Less Time on Operations

Manage your enterprise data infrastructure easily with Declarative Management Framework (DMF). Reduce the time spent on daily maintenance operations by defining a common set of policies for most database operations like query optimizations, naming conventions, backup and restore operations, and index management. Apply policies to many servers for consistent management across the enterprise. Enable Performance System Analysis by collecting performance data from your system and store it in a centralized data repository. View reports to benchmark and analyze system performance and health.

Additional Information: http://www.microsoft.com/sql