Scalability Experts, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and provider of data management and business intelligence solutions, recently introduced the availability of its Upgrade Assistant for SQL Server 2012 (UAFS) tool. Developed in conjunction with Microsoft, the free tool is just another addition to the line of pre-existing products of its kind that offer upgrade solutions for SQL 2005 and SQL 2008.
Contributed by wubayou Rating: / 1 December 28, 2011
With the UAFS tool, users can automate the process of application compatibility testing to determine any issues that may arise from upgrading to SQL Server 2012 from SQL Server 2008. UAFS also helps verify that an SQL Server application’s query results will remain the same once a database upgrade is complete. Previous versions of the tool covered upgrades from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2005 to SQL Server 2008. Highlights of the 2012 version include improved replay accuracy and throughput thanks to its use of the SQL Server 2012 Distributed Replay Manager, as well as a more user-friendly results display from leveraging the power of SQL Server 2012 Reporting Services.
President and founder of Scalability Experts Raj Gill discussed some of the benefits of UAFS in the official press release: “The Upgrade Assistant for SQL Server 2012 is a vital tool in helping SQL Server customers observe and compare their database applications on their current platforms as well as new versions of the Microsoft database platform. This new version of the upgrade assistant will expand support for all supported in place upgrade paths to SQL Server 2012. SE has partnered with Microsoft to help thousands of customers and partners upgrade to new releases of SQL Server with this tool.”
Microsoft’s Roger Doherty also commented on the latest release, saying: “We work hard to make upgrades to a new release of Microsoft SQL Server as easy as possible. This includes ensuring that customers have the right tools and methodologies in place to minimize the risk of discovering latent application compatibility issues that might crop up after an upgrade. That’s where UAFS comes in. This tool allows you to compare application workloads executed against different versions of SQL Server and detect if there are changes in behavior. UAFS makes it possible to detect and correct application compatibility issues that may be buried deep inside application source code prior to performing an upgrade.” He added: “Microsoft and Scalability Experts have partnered to deliver UAFS tools since SQL Server 2005, and I’m very pleased that this new release is available to customers and partners who are interested in supporting the next release of SQL Server.”
Alchemy Solutions Announces Availability of Enhanced VSAM to SQL Server Migration Tool
Oregon-based Alchemy Solutions recently released NeoData v2.0.17.0, the latest version of its VSAM to SQL Server migration tool. The latest release adds to the company’s portfolio of business software developed for Microsoft products, and is highlighted by new search and filtering functions designed to help users boost efficiency.
Raul Menendez, Alchemy Solutions’ VP of strategy and alliances, described the benefits of the newest version of NeoData, saying: “These new features will make transforming VSAM data to SQL Server faster and more accurate than ever. Users can create, save and load filters, allowing them to quickly find the data they need without searching manually. And they can do it all without writing or modifying COBOL code.” Director of SQL Server Marketing Persio Alfonso added: “Customers who need to migrate VSAM files to SQL Server to gain the full benefits of SQL Server data management can now take advantage of the latest version of NeoData. The goal of NeoData is to make the conversion as pain-free as possible to ensure that customers can quickly use SQL Server’s advanced functionality.”
Other highlights of NeoData v2.0.17.0 begin with the SQL-CLR UDT Deploy and Migrate Wizard, which simplifies the process of deploying SQL Server databases. In addition to giving businesses the ability to launch databases with ease, the wizard comes equipped with several settings for database connection, deployment choices, and more.
Another highlight worth mentioning is the enhanced NeoDataTool command line utility. The tool has been revamped to offer a wider range of functionality to improve data translation efficiency. Users can now employ the tool to modify project attributes such as names and mapping properties, as well as to change the endpoint values of name, record layout, character-encoding type, and the list goes on. Last, but not least, users of the latest NeoData release can enjoy endpoint creation directly from a mainframe dataset.
MS SQL Server 
SQL Server ODBC Driver for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Now Available
