Code-named Denali – the next version of SQL Server is fast approaching.

And whenever CTP2 gets released you can be sure to expect some excellent new features.

Here I continue to delve into these delights, highlighting those to look out for.

Spatial Features

Not that I get to play around with the spatial element too much in my current role,  SQL Server spatial features have been greatly expanded within this Denali release.

Highlights include:-

new CircularArc subtypes, support for objects bigger than a logical hemisphere (including a new FULLGLOBE data type), new methods for the geography type, spatial index improvements, Nearest Neighbor Query Plan, and support for persisted computes columns. Plus the inclusion of  the CollectionAggregate, ConvexHullAggregate, EnvelopeAggregate, and UnionAggregate spatial aggregates.

To get more detail on these features and more, the New Spatial Features Whitepaper can be downloaded from Microsoft.