Engine and algorithm improvements: To improve the accuracy and stability of some predictions in time series models, a new algorithm has been added to the Microsoft Time Series algorithm. Based on the well-known ARIMA algorithm, the new algorithm provides better long-term predictions than the ARTxp algorithm that Analysis Services has been using. (ARTxp is an auto-regressive tree algorithm that is optimized for either a single time slice or short-term predictions.)
Enhanced mining structures: When creating a mining structure, you can now divide the data in the mining structure into permanent training and testing sets. The definition of the partition is stored with the structure, and you can reuse the test set with any mining models that are based on that structure.
You can now query data cached in a mining structure, much like you could query case detail from a model.
You can now attach filters to a mining model and use the filter during both training and testing. Applying a filter to the model lets you control the data that is used to train the model and lets you more easily assess the performance of the model on subsets of the data.
Cross-validation is an established method of assessing the accuracy of data mining models. In cross-validation, you iteratively partition the mining structure data into subsets, build models on the subsets, and then measure the accuracy of the model for each partition. By reviewing the returned statistics, you can determine how reliable the mining model is and more easily compare models that are based on the same structure.
Data Mining add-ins for Office 2007: Market Basket Analysis and Prediction Calculator have been added.
For more info:
What's New (Analysis Services - Data Mining): http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb510513(SQL.100).aspx
SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 has been released. You can find more information from the service pack 2 page.
This service pack extends the functionality of SQL Server in many ways. The What's New document highlights the major changes in the Database Engine, Analysis Services, Integration Services and others. The service pack also has performance and manageability enhancements that will be of interest to lot of developers and database administrators.
Please download the latest service pack and test your database applications with it to see the benefits.
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Umachandar Jayachandran
Did you know that SQL Server 2008 is just around the corner, and that the SQL development team has just publicly released the latest Community Technology Preview (CTP 6) version?
This latest beta version of SQL 2008 includes many exciting new features like filtered indexes, sparse columns, data compression, Microsoft sync, integrated full text search, Report rendering in Microsoft Word, Data visualization enhancements, extensive Books Online documentation, the first feature pack, and many, many more.
Now is great time to try it for yourself! Download SQL Server 2008 here .
Also, the SQLCAT teams (including us on the SQLCAT ISV team) have been busy working with our customers and partners implementing pre-release (CTP) builds. We have many lessons learned to share with you; these can be found here
Additionally, we have a number of great best practices papers coming up:
· Index Defragmentation Best Practices
· Best Practices for using Resource Governor with a mixed (OLTP and Reporting) workload
http://statisticsio.com/Feeds/SQLBlogfeeds/tabid/60/Default.aspx -2/25/2008 12:57:00 PM
SQL Server 2008 is just around the corner. SQLCAT has been working with our customers and partners implementing pre-release builds. We have a lot good lessons learned to share, here are some of the upcoming best practices papers:
· Index Defragmentation Best Practices
· Best Practices for using Resource Governor with a mixed (OLTP and Reporting) workload
· Data Compression: Design and Implementation Best Practices, Performance Impact
· XEvents Toolkit
· SQL 2008 Usage-Based Optimization Efficacy (subject to name change)
· Scale Out Querying with Analysis Services 2008
· Best practices for Data Warehousing in SQL Server 2008
The latest version community technology preview (CTP6) includes many exciting new features like filtered indexes, sparse columns, data compression, Microsoft sync, integrated full text search, Report rendering in Microsoft Word, Data visualization enhancement and the first feature pack. Now is good time to see it yourself! Go here for instruction on how to download.
On Friday, February 15, the Nashville SQL Server Users Group had its first meeting. It was actually the very first meeting of the rejuvenated SQL Server group that had more or less dissolved over the past few years. But a few of us got together and realized that we wanted to have a user's group that we could attend here locally, and so the group was reborn.
Turnout was spectacular for a first meeting of any kind really, with the meeting being held at the offices of Robert Half International in downtown Nashville. Approximately 100 people were in attendance, which for one thing meant that the pizza was pretty much all eaten by the end of the meeting, but also meant that this was a tremendously well received first meeting for any type of group, much less a SQL Server user's group that had floundered away a few years back. Hungry for pizza, hungry for knowledge.
Luckily for our first meeting, we brought out a very popular speaker, and a coauth