SQL Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 2 (SP2) Released & Available To Download

The software giant Microsoft announced the availability of SQL Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 2 (SP2). SQL Server 2008 R2 SP2 contains fixes to issues that have been reported through customer feedback platforms and Hotfix solution provided in SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Cumulative Update 1 thru to Cumulative Update 5. Service Pack 2 also includes supportability enhancements and issues that have been reported through Windows Error Reporting system. 

The update fixes several bugs with the product, most notably a problem that could cause a deadlock of the server when synchronising database logs to another server. A bug that prevented users of the JDBC Driver to connect to the server when using JRE 6 update 29, or later, was also fixed. A problem where users receive "incorrect results" when running "a complex query" which contains joins and aggregate functions and uses the DISTINCT statement has been fixed, but Microsoft is not offering any further details on it. Other patches correct false error reports, fix problems with the server's update install mechanism and more.

Both the Service Pack and Feature Pack updates are available for download on the Microsoft Download Center. As part of the continued commitment of Microsoft to software excellence for the customers, this upgrade is free and doesn't require an additional service contract. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 SP2 also addresses a few key customer requests:

• Reporting Services Charts Maybe Zoomed & Cropped 
  Customers using Reporting Services on Windows 7 may sometime find charts are zoomed in and cropped. To work around the issue some customers set ImageConsolidation to false.
• Batch Containing Alter Table not Cached 
  In certain situations with batch files containing the alter table command, the entire batch file is not cached.
• Collapsing Cells or Rows, If Hidden Render Incorrectly 
  Some customers who have hidden rows in their Reporting Services reports may have noticed rendering issues when cells or rows are collapsed. When writing a hidden row, the Style attribute is opened to write a height attribute. If the attribute is empty and the width should not be zero.

Customers are highly encouraged to stay on a supported service pack to ensure they are on the latest and most secure version of SQL Server 2008 R2. The Service Pack is freely available for download from Microsoft's Download Center. We would like to share with you that, earlier in this year Microsoft has released SQL Server 2012 , and the Evaluation edition of SQL Server 2012 is also freely available to download from Microsoft.