Resources for IT Professionals

SQL Server SP4 (February 15, 2005)

Please note:Portions of this transcript have been edited for clarity

Introduction

Moderator (Moderator):
Welcome to today's SQL Server chat. I am very excited to be here. Your SQL Server moderator Stephen Dybing is out today, so you are stuck with me. My name is Jana Carter. I am a Product Manager on the Microsoft.com Communities Team. I manage the chat and blog program. It is good to be here.

Moderator (Moderator):
OK, let's meet our crazy group of experts. I am lucky enough to be sitting in a conference room with most of them on Microsoft's main campus in Redmond, WA.

Michael Rys (Expert):
Thanks for attending the chat. My name (as it says ;) ) is Michael Rys. I am a Program Manager in the SQL Server Engine team responsible for the engine XML functionality (OpenXML, FOR XML etc.). I also represent Microsoft in the SQL and XQuery standardization efforts. My Weblog is at http://sqljunkies.com/weblog/mrys

Jason Watters (Expert):
Jason Watters is a Program Manager on the DataWorks team in the SQL Server group at Microsoft.

SWynkoop_SSWUG (Expert):
Hello - I'm Stephen Wynkoop, e-Editor for SSWUG.ORG and SQL Server MVP. SSWUG is on the web at http://ww.sswug.org -- Welcome!

MariaB (Expert):
My name is Maria Balsamo. I'm responsible for the internal TAP program for the SQL Team. My customers are internal IT professionals who run mission-critical applications for MSFT.

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Hi - I'm Seth!
I'm a test lead for the Tools team (EM, Query Analyzer, Profiler, etc).
I'm looking forward to answering any tools related questions on SQL Server 2000 SP4.

Umachandar [UC] (Expert):
Umachandar Jayachandran [UC] is a program manager in the SQL Server Engine team. He works on customer scenarios and readiness of the engine features. He also owns the deprecated engine features for SQL Server 2005. He is also a contributing editor of SQL Server Magazine.

James Howey (Expert):
I am James Howey. I am a Program Manager representing the DTS team.

BenMi [MSFT] (Moderator):
My name is Ben Miller and I am the SQL Server MVP Lead for the North America Region.

Phillip Garding (Expert):
Hello, I am a program manager in the SQL Server Replication team.

Matthias Berndt (Expert):
Hi - great to see such big turnout of customers interested in SP4. My name is Matthias Berndt. I am a Group Program Manager in the SQL Server Business Unit. My team - among other release projects - manages the overall SP4 release. I have been w/ Microsoft since 1992, originally in the German Subsidiary as a Subsidiary Program Manager. Since 1996 I have been part of the SQL Server core team in various roles here in Redmond.

Ajay Manchepalli (Expert):
I am Ajay Manchepalli, Program Manager in SQL Release team, primarlly focussed in MSDE space.

Max (Expert):
Maxwell Myrick is a Program Manager Lead with SQL Server at Microsoft. He is currently responsible for the servicing release team. He was also the release manager for SQL Server SP3a / MDAC 2.71 refresh. Some of you may also remember him as the SQL Customer Lab manager from Aug 2000 through Feb 2003.

Start of Chat

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: Will there be an MSDE release of SP4 like there was for SP3?
A: Hello Everyone, my name is Rajesh Patel, Program Manager with Microsoft SQL Server setup team. Looking forward to talk to you on SP4.

Umachandar [UC] (Expert):
Q: SP3 introduced some new functions (ie fn_get_sql), will there be any additional useful system functions like these at our disposal?
A: No. There are no additional system functions in SP4.

Max (Expert):
Q: Will SP4 include all the fixes for 17883 messages?
A: All the changes shipped in Hotfixes to date for 17883 messages will be included in SQL 2000 SP4. I think there were 5 or so, I remember digging into this back in Dec.

Jason Watters (Expert):
Q: didn't see any update to SQL Server Reporting Services in SP4. Will Reporting Services be included?
A: SP4 is not including any updates to SQL Server Reporting Services. The Reporting Services team is on their own schedule for Service Pack releases.

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: Will SP4 do anything to the jobs in the system that you know?
A: SP4 has undergone testing of the SQL Agent feature - there are no known issues with jobs after upgrading to SP4

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: Can WMSDE SP4 slipstream be installed on a IA64 machine?
A: No. Only 64-bit version of SQL Server 2000 is currently supported on IA64 machine.

Matthias Berndt (Expert):
Q: What is the release date of SP4?
A: SP4 is slated for H1 CY2005. At this point we primarily monitor Beta customer feedback, we have no plans for additional work other than addressing customer feedback we receive as well as additional issues identified as part of our internal testing.

Michael Rys (Expert):
Q: has sp4 been made so that there will be no software clashes?
A: Software clashes?! :-)

Max (Expert):
Q: I'm sure this will be covered, but what are the main enhancements/bug fixes/new features with SP4? Please break the changes down into the following categories: T-SQL, Database Design, Reporting Services, DTS, Analysis Services, security.
A:
Sorry, hit send to soon. KB 888799 for SP4 Beta and some of the newer post-SP3 hotfix bugs from 810185. These KBs should provide wht. at you are looking for. Note that a few of the hotfixes in 810185 are not listed publicly yet...but will show up the day the KB article is released.

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: Will you be able to back SP4 out or will you need to restore your databases?
A: SP4 can not be rollbaked. User need to first backup the database before applying SP4. Readme has more information on this.

Ajay Manchepalli (Expert):
Q: How does SP4 affect MSDE?
A: I am glad you asked this question, MSDE is just another SKU (Desktop Edition) of SQL Server 2000, just as Standard or Enterprise Editions.

Max (Expert):
Q: Will there be a Slip streamed SP4 Install package for SQL 2000 to ease the installation of SQL 2000 on Windows 2003?
A: There will NOT be a slipstreamed version of SQL 2000 SP4 - except for MSDE per usual. SP4 is still Installshield-based as was our original SQL Server 2000 product. SQL Server 2005 (aka Yukon) will be MSI based and we are working to provide slipstream SPs on that platform thanks to the benefits of MSI. MSDE users will have a full version (SQL 2000 + SP4) for their MSDE installation in both MSM and MSI format.

Jason Watters (Expert):
Q: Is the reporting services SP4 (discussed last week) part of this same update or is it a stand alone update?
A: SP4 will not include any updates to Reporting Services. That is a stand alone update on a separate schedule.

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: Will SP4 allow SQLMail to use Outlook > 2000 (I understand that there's a MAPI issue with OutlookXP/2003)
A: Yes - SQL Server 2000 SP4 has been tested with Outlook 2000, XP and 2003. Various issues with SQLMail have been fixed, either in SQL 2000 SP4, or in updates for Outlook (see http://www.officeupdate.com)

Max (Expert):
Q: are there any updates to SP4 that are not currently available as hotfixes to SP3?
A: Yes, there are quite a few but not all are public. You can compare 888799 versus the list in 810185 for what is publicly known.

Michael Rys (Expert):
Q: has sp4 been made so that there will be no software clashes?
A: To follow up: We are testing to reduce conflicts. For example, we are removing the potential conflicts with other MSXML installations (and a potential reboot requirement).

MariaB (Expert):
Q: Will SP4 adversely effect large applications like Solomon?
A: We do extensive testing of any service pack to make sure it meets our criteria for performance, security and functionality. Every application is different. If you are running an 3rd party application (Solomon or others), you should test it thoroughly with SP4 before you deploy it on your production servers.

Ajay Manchepalli (Expert):
Q: How does SP4 affect MSDE?
A: I am glad you asked this question, MSDE is just another SKU (Desktop Edition) of SQL Server 2000, just as Standard or Enterprise Editions. So, SP4 is very much applicable to MSDE as rest of SQL 2000 SKUs.

Jason Watters (Expert):
Q: does SP4 have any features or changes to make you think you have Yukon?
A: No, there are no Yukon features in SP4.

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: Can SP4 be deployed by SMS?
A: yes, we would be happy to hear your feedback on your test.

Marin Bezic (Expert):
Q: will it effect my analysis services repository?
A: no, no changes are being made in the analysis services repository since SP3

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: Any improvement in ADSI interface.Lot of dataconversion issues are there.Vb script works fine and from sql server the code never works for integer8 pwdlastset or userAccountControl
A: There are no changes for ADSI in SQL Server 2000 SP4.

Umachandar [UC] (Expert):
Q: Will there be any new security settinsg or options introduced in SP4?
A: No. But there are some changes that improve security. For example, all the binaries have been compiled with the new VC++ 70 compiler to utilitize new compiler options. There are also security changes wrt some extended system stored procedures.

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: Can we install MSDE SP4 on top of MSDE 2000 (no SP3 installed?) Or do I have to install MSDE 2000 SP3 and then apply SP4?
A: You do not need MSDE SP3 in this case. You can simply apply directly to SP4.

Michael Rys (Expert):
Q: Is there any performace improvements in SP4 in realtion to XML and XML functionality? I'm really interested in any performance gains in OpenXML and related processing.
A: We are moving the MSXML component from 2.6 to 3.0 for OpenXML. This should give you some small perf improvements (10 to 20%) for certain types of XPath queries. However, it still uses the DOM internally.

Matthias Berndt (Expert):
Q: What are the improved features from SP3 to SP4?
A: Here is a high level list of items changed/new in SP4
* Addresses customer reported issues since SP3 started to ship
* Rollup of Hotfixes done since SP3 shipped http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;810185
* A preliminary fixlist can be found here: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306908
* Supporting our Trustworthy Computing theme we recompiled all dlls and exe’s using the 7.1 VC compiler/build tools to leverage improved security compiler settings.
* Moved to MDAC 2.8 SP1, the latest MDAC stack, also used in Windows XP SP2.
* SP4 Will now run in the WOW on Extended Systems in 64-bit Mode using AMD Opteron, Intel Xeon with EM64 Technology
* Under WOW64 32 Bit EE SQL Server can access FULL 4GB of RAM (and AWE) now. This requires Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition (currently in Beta)
Ships H1 CY2005
* SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition (64-bit), still runs natively on Itanium hardware. SP4 is first Service Pack for

Max (Expert):
Q: Will SP4 be merged into a slipstream setup to allow a single install of SQL Server on a new server? or must I install base RTM and then apply SP4.
A: Except for MSDE, you will have to apply RTM and then apply SP4. For a few more details see question 4.

Jason Watters (Expert):
Q: What version of MDAC will SP4 have?
A: SP4 will have MDAC 2.8 SP1.

Phillip Garding (Expert):
Q: There was a bug introduced in SP3 regarding merge replication filtered subscriptionsl. Fixed in SP4? Any other showstopper merge replication problems fixed in SP4?
A: I'm not sure which bug you are referring to. Do you have a bug number? We did fix at least one merge filtering bug as a QFE which is included in SP4.

Ajay Manchepalli (Expert):
Q: Are there any "gotchas" to watch for when applying the SP4 patch?
A: The current SP4 Beta release has a couple gotchas: 1. MSXML3.0 is not installed as part of MSDE setup (Does not affect any other Editions such as Standard, Enterprise). So, you will have issues using OPENXML feature. However to mitigate this issue, you can install MSXML3 after MSDE setup - MRys will reply back with exact steps involved here.

MariaB (Expert):
Q: Will SP4 provide a smoother migration path to 2005?
A: SP4 will not really provide a smoother migration path to 2005. We are devoting a great deal of effort to ensure that any version of SQL Server 2000 will easily migrate to SQL Server 2005. There is nothing special about SP4 with regard to 2005.

Michael Rys (Expert):
Q: Several questions. I'll ask them individually. 1. How has the testing gone with the update to MSXML3?
A: We are quite pleased with it in the context of OpenXML.

MariaB (Expert):
Q: Can SP4 be deployed via SMS?
A: Yes, SP4 can be deployed via SMS.

James Howey (Expert):
Q: Will some features only be supported on 2003 Server vs 2000 Server?
A: We tested existing functionality against Windows 2003, but did not implement any new functionality to take advantage of new OS features.

Ajay Manchepalli (Expert):
Q: How does SP4 affect MSDE?
A: MSDE is just another SKU (Desktop Edition) of SQL Server 2000, just as Standard or Enterprise Editions. So, SP4 is very much applicable to MSDE as rest of SQL 2000 SKUs.

Michael Rys (Expert):
Q: Are there any "gotchas" to watch for when applying the SP4 patch?
A: The way to address the MSXML issue is given at http://sqljunkies.com/WebLog/mrys/archive/2005/01/14/6352.aspx which points you to the Beta website and it is available in the newsgroup.

Michael Rys (Expert):
Q: SQL2000 SP4 runs World Of Warcraft! (WOW) :P
A: :P

James Howey (Expert):
Q: Will there enhancements to mail functionality?
A: Mail functionality has benefited from bug fixes, but no new functionality has been added.

Max (Expert):
Q: SP3a was essentially 'required' because of some security issues. Are there any reasons for accellerating the deployment of this service pack or can we be somewhat leisurely?
A: You will not have to stop any other SQL instances except when the system has to reboot or for clustered SQL Server. The system will have to reboot when files are locked. To prevent locked files, shut down as many other applications as you can. You can check HKLM/System/CCS/Control/Sessionmanager/Pendingfilerename for which files were locked. Then use the DLL Help database up on MSDN to figure how who this is. Some things just can not be stopped...and the reboot is thus required. MDAC is probably the most common one of those.

Umachandar [UC] (Expert):
Q: In addition, what about changes that impact performance tuning queries and stored procedures?
A: There are no fundamental changes to the server that will impact performance tuning. But there are several fixes that correct performance related issues identified after SP3. So as part of SP4, you will get all such hotfixes post SP3. As part of the SP4, there will be a readme which will contain references to all such hotfixes, bug fixes and their KB articles. This is a good place to check.

MariaB (Expert):
Q: I heard encryption may be undergoing a change in SP4.. Is that true? Is there anything about it you can release publically?
A: Encryption of fields in a record is a new feature in SQL Server 2005, not SP4.

James Howey (Expert):
Q: Any SP4 improvements in the SQLMail/MAPI/Outlook area ?
A: Beyond bug fixes, no new feature work has been done with mail functionality.

Jason Watters (Expert):
Q: How big can we expect sp4 to be?
A: In terms of download size, it's on the order of SP3 but slightly larger. The main SQL package is about 12MB larger for SP4. There is also a new 64-bit download package in SP4 at about 48MB. The reason for the size growth is largely due to our decision to rebuild all binaries from SQL 2000 RTM with new compiler security settings.

Michael Rys (Expert):
Q: What is the overriding reason to update to SP4?
A: More bug fixes rolled in and some additional security fixes.

Matthias Berndt (Expert):
Q: Is there any security tighten up in SP4?
A: Yes. In every release we consider our Trustworthy Computing initiatve. Some items done:
* Recompiled all dlls and exe’s using the 7.1 VC compiler/build tools to leverage improved security compiler settings.
* Moved to MDAC 2.8 SP1, the latest MDAC stack, also used in Windows XP SP2.

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: Are there any enhancements or improvements specifically related to clustering in SP4?
A: We have bug fixes and security included into SP4. There are not new feature added for clustering in SP4.

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: Why was Query Analyzer ( SP4 ) blocked from connecting to SQL 2005 beta instances? I’ve been using QA SP3 to access “Yukon” with no problem.
A: In SQL Server 2000 SP4 [Beta] - we intentionally blocked connections from QA to SQL Server 2005. However - after much discussion and feedback on the matter from customers and the newsgroups - we have decided to ALLOW Query Analyzer to connect to SQL Server 2005. Expect to see these changes in the final release of SQL Server 2000 SP4.

Max (Expert):
Q: Will I have to stop any other instances or sql server or reboot the machine to apply sp4?
A: You will not have to stop any other SQL instances except when the system has to reboot or for clustered SQL Server. The system will have to reboot when files are locked. To prevent locked files, shut down as many other applications as you can. You can check HKLM/System/CCS/Control/Sessionmanager/Pendingfilerename for which files were locked. Then use the DLL Help database up on MSDN to figure how who this is. Some things just can not be stopped...and the reboot is thus required. MDAC is probably the most common one of those. MDAC will install 2.81 on Win2000 but not on Win2003 and WinXP.

Ajay Manchepalli (Expert):
Q: Will their be a version of SP4 specifically for MSDE?
A: Yes, MSDE is just another SKU (Desktop Edition) of SQL Server 2000, just as Standard or Enterprise Editions. So, SP4 is very much applicable to MSDE as rest of SQL 2000 SKUs. MSDE is the only SKU that is actually available as a slipstream.

MariaB (Expert):
Q: Wll SP4 cause any problems with Veritas?
A: SP4 has been extensively tested by the SQL Team. We've not specifically tested it with Veritas, howeve there are no changes in the backup API, so there is no reason why it should not work. Regardless, you should do your own extensive testing of any Service Pak with the applications you use prior to deploying it in production.

Michael Rys (Expert):
Q: when will a draft readme/summary overview be available
A: There is already a draft readme file included in the current SP4 beta.

Umachandar [UC] (Expert):
Q: recentley I have become aware of the contention issue in TEMPDB caused by using lots of table variables and cursors. There is a KB on it and a fix post SP3. Any more improvements in this area with SP4? The contention is on a shared page allocation data.
A: There are no further improvements. But as part of SP4, you will get all fixes post SP3. The problem with tempdb allocation has been fixed.

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: Will MSDE have it's own version of SP4 like analysis services? Or use the same as standard edition and enterprise edition?
A: Yes, MSDE has its own version of SP4. You may down load sql2k32desksp4.exe and extract it. I would highly suggest to refer readme first for MSDE.

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: Are there any impacts for Sharepoint installations on Windows 2003 Server?
A: None are known of at this time. SP4 installation does require downtime (restart) of the SQL Server service - so plan for downtime of the Sharepoint services as well.

Max (Expert):
Q: SP3a was essentially 'required' because of some security issues. Are there any reasons for accellerating the deployment of this service pack or can we be somewhat leisurely?
A: Apologies for the Incorrect answer posted here before. Security is always an issue. I would probably first point out that Slammer virus hit SP2 customers that didn't upgrade very quickly to SP3. It could happen again....and that's the risk advoidance strategy. We certainly recommend this, but each customer should consider their own test needs before upgrading.

James Howey (Expert):
Q: What is the overriding reason to update to SP4?
A: The greatest efforts in sp4 have been expended in security work and bug fixes. Install sp4 to get a more secure, more stable server and tools.

Umachandar [UC] (Expert):
Q: Any changes to how the optimizer generates query plans in SP4? That is, might I see different query plans for the same query under SP4 and SP3 versions?
A: There are no design changes or enhancements to the optimizer. But there will probably be some queries that generate different query plan in SP4. The reason is that the query plan generation is cost-based and several factors like auto-stats, indexes can affect the outcome. If you do find instances where the query plan is drastically different and affects performance, you can file a bug through the beta program so that we can take a look at it.

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: Will SP4 fix the MDI/non-MDI mode issue when running Enterprise Manager within the My Computer | Manage mmc console?
A: No - there are no specific changes in this regard.

Jason Watters (Expert):
Q: Will client machines be required to upgrade to MDAC 2.8 SP1?
A: MDAC 2.8 SP1 is not a requirement for client machines to work with SP4 servers. However, 2.8 SP1 is included in the SP4 install and SP4 MSDE packages, and we recommend customers to upgrade to this latest version of MDAC due to improvements in serviceability, supportability, and security.

Michael Rys (Expert):
Q: We had issues with MSXML 2.6 loading high on a clustered installation.... It could not be addressed higher than the native 2 GB level. The /3GB switch can throw it for a loop. Does the move to MSXML 3 solve this?
A: Good question. I don't know. I will check offline. Let me know how I can get the answer back to you (is the SP4 beta newsgroup ok?)

Matthias Berndt (Expert):
Q: What functionality will SP4 provide? Will we be required to upgrade to SP4 before going to 2005?
A: Regarding functionality: I have answered on similiar threads already - let me know in case these do not satisfy your questions. Regarding upgrade to SP4 required before going to 2005: No - we do not plan to make SP4 the prerequisite to upgrade to SQL Server 2005.

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: In a active/passive cluster how would I apply sp4
A: Run the service pack from the node that owns the group containing the virtual server that you plan to upgrade. This installs the service pack files on all nodes in the failover cluster. I would highly suggest to refer Readme section "3.4 Install on a Failover Cluster"

Max (Expert):
Q: Has there been any testing done on SP4 with SQL LiteSpeed?
A: We really don't test 3rd party products, it's nearly impossible to do so fairly. However, this company works fairly closely with SQL and will be testing it. I know that some of our internal customers that are already live use this product themselves and have not reported errors to us.

James Howey (Expert):
Q: Are there any changes to T-SQL that may need to be adressed before applying SP4?
A: There are no changes to tsql features in sp4. It is possible that undocumented behavior may change.

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: What are the Server OS requirements for applying SP4?
A: It is documented as part of system requirement in readme. I would highly suggest to refer readme.

Ajay Manchepalli (Expert):
Q: Are there any changes to T-SQL that may need to be adressed before applying SP4?
A: No

Matthias Berndt (Expert):
Q: Well SP4 be the last SP for SQL 2000?
A: At this point in the life cycle of SQL Server 2000 we do not release SPs on a fixed schedule. We will make the call for a potential future SP based on customer feedback and demand. We work closely w/ our support organization to make that call.

Max (Expert):
Q: Will you still deploy security patches for SP3a, or will we need to upgrade to SP4 first?
A: We will continue to support SP3a for all security fixes (and regular hotfixes as well) for at least 1 year after SP4 ships. We are considering extending this standard MS lifecycle to 2 years or longer based on customer feedback to date, but no decisions are final yet.

Umachandar [UC] (Expert):
Q: There was a subtle bug with indexes with NULL values and using multiple CPUs. I have had lcustomers disable parallell CPU use because of this. A fix in SP4?
A: There are several bug fixes related to issues involving parallelism. You can take a look at the SP4 readme which will have a list of KB articles for the fixes and see if your problem has been addressed.

Jason Watters (Expert):
Q: Will it be possible to apply SQL SP4 if the sql server is shut down?
A: Yes, the server will start itself during the SP4 setup, and then shut back down. It should retain the status of the server before the SP4 install.

James Howey (Expert):
Q: How will SP4 be available? CD? microsoft download center, Windows update?
A: As with sp3, we will ship sp4 to web for download, or via CD. There will be a single CD published for each language, with all required to update standard, enterprise, and other skus.

Matthias Berndt (Expert):
Q: Did there be a SP 5 released before SQL Server 2005 is released?
A: At this point in the life cycle of SQL Server 2000 we do not release SPs on a fixed schedule. We will make the call for a potential future SP based on customer feedback and demand. We work closely w/ our support organization to make that call. In case we do another SP, it will definitely not be before SQL Server 2005

MariaB (Expert):
Q: Is beta testing occuring now? If so how can one signup, or is it an open beta test?
A: Yes, we are doing beta testing now. You can sign up by following the instructions posted at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/betanominations.mspx

Moderator (Moderator):
If you have not already, we encourage you to beta–test SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 4 (SP4): http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/betanominations.mspx

MariaB (Expert):
Q: Will there be any new or documented DBCC commands?
A: No.

Moderator (Moderator):
We have 30 minutes left in today's chat.

Ajay Manchepalli (Expert):
Q: Can MSDE sp4 be deployed via SMS for a multiple SQL Server environment?
A: Yes. Please go ahead and test and let us know if you are hitting any issues int his space.

Max (Expert):
Q: 3. The latest hotfix build included in SP4 Beta 1 is 996. Why is the SP4 Beta 1 build labled 2026 when there are newer hotfixes available?
A: SQL Server 8.0 uses cumulative versioning. SQL 2000 RTM is 194, SQL 2000 SP3 is 760. Current SP3 hotfix we're working on is 1007. 2026 gives us the ability to post up to 1019 more SP3 hotfixes in it's lifecycle.

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: Are there any performance improvements in SP4 over SP3 ?
A: Yes as there are some bug fixes and improvements. We would be happy to hear your feedback on your test results.

Phillip Garding (Expert):
Q: sql replication for yukon. How has it changed, is it made easier for subscribers to reconnect if the publshing box has to be rebooted? What advantages have been made in replication?
A: There really haven't been any "headline" fixes for replication. We have fixed about 60 bugs in SP4, but they are all specific scenario-oriented bugs that don't have wide impact. We have continued to refine security issues, including recompiled all of our components to use new compiler flags that give protection against buffer overruns, etc. SP4 includes all QFEs that have been issued between SP3 and now.

Umachandar [UC] (Expert):
Q: In the past, service pack for SQL Server have included changes to the optimizer that caused performance problems when the optimizer changed the way query plans were generated. Has this been addressed in SP4?
A: We typically try our best to not have any regression issues in new service packs wrt optimizer. Since the cost-based optimization is not an exact science, it is possible that you encounter some scenarios which perform poorly for example. We run extensive workloads and replay scripts that simulate various production transactions to ensure that this is not the case. As part of the SP4 rollout, I would advise you to run a representative workload of your application(s) and evalute the upgrade.

MariaB (Expert):
are there any direct security enhancements, not just bug fixes?

Jason Watters (Expert):
Q: How big, in terms of changes, is SP4 compare to SP3?
A: SP4 is about the same as SP3 was in terms of bug fixes, hotfixes, and 64-bit support.

James Howey (Expert):
Q: Will SP4 still require the Outlook 2003 client to be open in order to send mail?
A: We will still require the outlook mapi client in sp4. It will not be required in sql server 2005.

Michael Rys (Expert):
Q: any full text indexing enhancements?
A: No functional enhancements. SQL Server 2005 will have quite a few (if you have access, see for example my SQLPASS 2004 presentation on unstructured data managment).

Matthias Berndt (Expert):
Q: Will there be a SP 5 released before SQL Server 2005 is released?
A: At this point in the life cycle of SQL Server 2000 we do not release SPs on a fixed schedule. We will make the call for a potential future SP based on customer feedback and demand. We work closely w/ our support organization to make that call. If we do another SP, it will not be before SQL Server 2005

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: Does SP4 installation update any system databases or system tables? I ask because I would like to know if reversion of SP4 in the event of any problems would just involve a reinstall - or would it require restoration of databases to an SP3 state.
A: SP4 includes updates to system databases same as previous SPs. As a best practive, I would suggest to back up databases first before applying SP4. Reame has more information on this.

Phillip Garding (Expert):
Q: Was there major fixes applied to Replication and if so what were they?
A: There really haven't been any "headline" fixes for replication. We have fixed about 60 bugs in SP4, but they are all specific scenario-oriented bugs that don't have wide impact. We have continued to refine security issues, including recompiled all of our components to use new compiler flags that give protection against buffer overruns, etc. SP4 includes all QFEs that have been issued between SP3 and now.

MariaB (Expert):
We changed to a more secure compiler. But there are no specific security features.

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: Any updates to current functions?
A: For the tools - Enterprise Manager in SP4 will be using a more recent version of the Visual Database Tools. The changes are minor and mainly affect security and bug fixes. SQL Server 2000 SP3 used the table designer, query designer and database diagram functionality of Visual Studio 98, while the SQL Server 2000 SP4 uses the updated version that shipped in Visual Studio .NET 2003. Trivia - Pre SP4 - the SEM query designer background color is grey, post SP it's white :D

MariaB (Expert):
Q: are there any direct security enhancements, not just bug fixes?
A: Yes, we are compiling SQL sp4 with a more secure compiler

Max (Expert):
Q: With SQL2000 entering it's twilight, SQL2005 on the horrizon, what's the stance with SQL7? (Technically off topic...)
A: We really prefer to work on SQL 2000 and SQL 2005, but are still supporting SQL 7.0 officially through 2010 or so. This information is correct on the www.microsoft.com lifecycle webpages. It's getting harder to do quality work on SQL 7.0 as more of the folks that directly wrote that code move along to other things. Just upgrade someday

Michael Rys (Expert):
Q: Will sp4 affect Full text indexing? how
A: Not on the functional level.

Ajay Manchepalli (Expert):
Q: Does SP4 have any impact on BizTalk 2004?
A: We are working with our partner BizTalk team to ensure they perform compat testing with SQL2K SP4. If you are seeing any issues with SP4 and Biztalk, please let us know. Your feedback is very useful and can help us make the service pack robust.

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: Will SP4 support mounted volumes on a Windows 2003 cluster? KB article 819546 states that SQL Server 2000 is not supported when a cluster uses mounted drives?
A: No, as kb article suggests, SQL Server 2000 do not support mounted volumes. However, you may want to explore this feature in SQL Server 2005.

Ajay Manchepalli (Expert):
Q: Will SP4 have any effect on Biztalk Server 2002?
A: We are working with our partner BizTalk team to ensure they perform compat testing with SQL2K SP4. If you are seeing any issues with SP4 and Biztalk, please let us know. Your feedback is very useful and can help us make the service pack robust.

Moderator (Moderator):
Q: Is this chat going to be available online in the furture? Or should I save this before I go?
A: Yes, we will be posting a transcript on TechNet within 4 days. You can locate it here: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/trans/default.mspx

Ariel Netz (Expert):
Q: Will there be a SP 5 released before SQL Server 2005 is released?
A: schedule for SP5 has not been determine yet and considering that we are marching toward a release of SQL 2005 its safe to say that SP5 will be released after SQL 2005 will ship

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: There's been a fair bit of whinging on the beta general feedback newsgroup that you can't connect to a Yukon instance with QA (SQL 2000 SP4 version). Will that restriction be removed and perhaps just replaced with a warning?
A: In SQL Server 2000 SP4 [Beta] - we intentionally blocked connections from QA to SQL Server 2005. However - after much discussion and feedback on the matter from customers and the newsgroups - we have decided to ALLOW Query Analyzer to connect to SQL Server 2005. Expect to see these changes in the final release of SQL Server 2000 SP4.

James Howey (Expert):
Q: What are the tools you refer to in SP4?
A: When we say tools, we refer to the Administrative Tools selected at setup time, i.e. Enterprise Manager, Query Analyzer, DTS, and other UI.

Jason Watters (Expert):
Q: Will SP4 support Clustering SqlMail implementations? Prior versions mention that sqlmail is not supported in a clustered configuration.
A: This support was not added for SP4.

Moderator (Moderator):
Q: will this chat be posted somewhere , or is it possible to get a saved copy of this chat?
A: Yes, we will be posting a transcript on TechNet within 4 days. You can locate it here: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/trans/default.mspx

Matthias Berndt (Expert):
Q: Were any known issues fixed where SQL Server was returning incorrect results for a query? I know that the multiple CPU issue with NULLs in an index was one of these. Any others? Thanks
A: Please refer to the SP4 fixlist on http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888799 . It includes fixes for incorrect result scenarios.

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: Should we shutdown Sharepoint Services sites (that use SQL Server 2000) before applying SQL Server 2000 SP4 patch?
A: In general, any client application which makes connection to SQL Server may be shut down before running SP4.

Max (Expert):
Q: When hotfixes are publicly posted such as the one for post SP3 is, is it recommend to apply those hot fixes in the majority of cases? I assume they get testing similar to a service pack if they are posted on a public Microsoft web site. Correct?
A: There are only three types of SQL hotfixes which are put on the download center. The first are ones that are security-related. These are probably tested more than service packs ...at least for the scope of the changes. You should definitely apply those soonest. The second are fixes which are needed by a particular product. For example, BizTalk needs 878 per it's release notes...these get more testing than normal hotfixes but not as much as service packs. They do get a lot of testing between those product groups. The third set are fixes customers particularly request (through PSS very often). These get less than a service pack, but by the time we post to download center we've got thousands of customers running them and don't feel our testing is adding much value any more.

Babak Ahmadi (Expert):
Q: In response to Max's answer to the 2026 build labeling. Does this mean that as we go through beta testing and, hopefully soon, release candidate--which brings up another question--you will be adding the additional hotfixes to the SP 4 build?
A: The bar for adding anything to SP4 is very high right now -- basically, the only additions being accepted at this time are regressions introduced as a result of previous fixes -- so, no, no new features will be added and you testing will be valid indeed

Ajay Manchepalli (Expert):
Q: Is WMSDE SP4 upgrade to SQL server 2000 SP4 allowed ?
A: SP4 can be applied on WMSDE - however it has a separate install package that is different from rest of SKUs. WMSDE is very specific to the windows components that use it. I am workin with each windows component and ensure that SP4 is tested against WMSDE.

Ariel Netz (Expert):
Q: Will there be any licensing changes to SP 4 OR to 2005?
A: there are no licensing changed to SP4, as for the licensing of SQL 2005, those have not been finalized not announced.

Umachandar [UC] (Expert):
Q: what are the security changes wrt some extended system stored procedures in SP4 ? do they affect any existing user extended stored procedures?
A: It does not affect user extended stored procedures. The changes are to the system stored procedures that we ship with the product. For example, we have modified some undocumented system stored procedures to disallow access to registry keys that are not owned by SQL Server service account.

James Howey (Expert):
Q: What's the top priority items after SP4 in terms of patches?
A: We will continue to emphasize security, plus fixing high priority defects.

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: Will remote admins (PC's running Enterprise Manager) need to upgrade to SP4?
A: Yes, and no = This should not be necessary - the SP3 tools will work against SP4 - however, it is in the best interests of the clients to upgrade to SP4. There were changes and bug fixes to the tools in terms of quality and security. Thus it is strongly recommended to upgrade the tools along with the server to SP4.

Michael Rys (Expert):
Q: Do you plan on having a better interface for uploading large XML files in the future, and does any part of SP4 affect XML use in SQL 2000?
A: Better interface to load large XML files. If you mean as XML datatypes (ie no shredding): SQL Server 2005 will have a simple option to load data (see for example http://sqljunkies.com/WebLog/mrys/articles/2767.aspx). Otherwise the SQLXML Bulkload object is still the fastest way to get data shredded). SP4 affects the XML use in that it uses a private version of MSXML 3.0 for OpenXML instead of MSXML 2.6 (normally good, but has some very small chance of backwards-incompatibilities, that I will explain later on my weblog/in newsgroup).

Ajay Manchepalli (Expert):
Q: There were issues with Intel Hyper-Threading in SP3. Where these fix in SP4?
A: Can you provide more specifics around this issue. If this was reported as a bug, please let us know as that will help track down and let you know if its resolved in SP4

Phillip Garding (Expert):
Q: Philip, I am suprised that only 1 bug was fixed for merge replication in SP4 according to your answer. Only 1? I have worked with merge since 7.0 Beta. The end of major bugs with merge replication partioned subscriptions would be great news.
A: I didn't mean to imply that we have only fixed one bug. We have fixed about 60 bugs in replication altogether (both transactional and merge). The fixes were all targeted toward specific circumstances; there weren't any bugs that had wide impact on lots of customers. There isn't anything that I would call a "headline" fix for us.

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: Does the SP4 Install package require the SQL Service account to have any elevated privledges during the install?
A: No special permissions then what is required to install SQL Server. User must be Administrator on the machine.

Jason Watters (Expert):
Q: Is SP4 being tested in conjunction with Reporting Services SP2? I had a nasty experience when I applied RS SP1. It broke some of the functionality of Enterprise Manager. I was then unable to reinstall SQL Server SP3a (which I hoped would fix it).
A: Yes, we are actively testing the latest SQL2000 service packs in conjunction with the latest Reporting Services service packs.

Umachandar [UC] (Expert):
Q: Are there any changes to the optimizer? That's been a problem with most other service packs.
A: There are several fixes that were done post SP3 wrt the optimizer. These changes will be part of SP4 too. See http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306908 for the current fixlist items.

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: 2. I haven't seen any discussion of testing on clustered installations in the beta newsgroups. Does anyone have any experiences with SP4 on clustered solutions, good or bad?
A: We are doing SP4 install on cluster in our test labs and internal Microsoft teams deployments. We would be very eager to hear your feedback on test findings

Matthias Berndt (Expert):
Q: will there be a separate download of SP4 for client tools only?
A: No: Package1) 32 Bit Database components, Package2) 32 Bit Analysis Services components, Package 3) MSDE, Package4) (NEW IN SP$) 64 Bit Database and Analysis Services components

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: Are there any improvements in SP4 that are specific to MSDE?
A: Yes., we have bug fixes and security fixes in this service pack. MSDE readme has more information.

Max (Expert):
Q: I saw one expert say I wouldn't need to reboot and another say I would when I apply sp4. Which is it?
A: If files are locked, you will have to reboot. Clusters will have to reboot (the reboot pushes the "active" instance from node to node so we can update them all during one run.

Phillip Garding (Expert):
Q: Does SP4 include any performance improvements / fixes for transactional replication?
A: We have fixed about 60 bugs for transactional and merge replication in SP4, but they are all specific scenario-oriented bugs that don't have wide impact. There were a few minor performance fixes, but nothing that's worth calling out specifically. We have continued to refine security issues, including recompiled all of our components to use new compiler flags that give protection against buffer overruns, etc. SP4 includes all QFEs that have been issued between SP3 and now.

Michael Rys (Expert):
Q: I am creating pages in Frontpage 2003, why is it that some of the frames and graphics move out of place when viewed in the browser? What can I do to prevent the objects from moving?
A: Sorry, but I think you got the wrong webcast. Can you post this question on the community website on msdn.microsoft.com on the Frontpage/Office newsgroup?

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: Are there any improvements in SP4 that are specific to MSDE?
A: Yes., we have bug fixes and security fixes in this service pack. MSDE readme has more information.

Max (Expert):
Q: Again, in response to Max's reply. If you are labeling SP4 as 2026 because you can add more hotfixes, but then you answered that no more will be added, will the post 996 hotfixes get relabled post 2026 after SP 4 is released?
A: No more SQL SP3 hotfixes (maybe a really critical one) will go into SP4. SP3 hotfixes continue in the range of builds 760 to 2026. SP4 hotfixes are above 2026. We have a slight quirk with our build numbers in that we have a major but not really a minor active build number. The minor place (normally SP) is instead incoded into the build number because we need the SQL engine to know exactly where the databases will match up with the service code running. So, if we have a post-SP3 hotfix after we ship SP4 then we have two hotfixes. The post-SP3 htofix will be versioned 1008 or so and the post-SP4 version (completely different file contents) will be 2028 or so. Is that what you were looking for?

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: SQL Server 2000 Profiler has stopped collecting data on a few systems that I have worked on. A restart of SQL Server fixed the problem in those cases. Any news of this or a fix in SP4?
A: This specifc issue has not be addressed in profiler SP4. However, it is recommended you upgrade to SP4 - the symptoms you're encountering may be resolved by the SQL Server Engine or Windows updates.

Jason Watters (Expert):
Q: is there an update of book online with sp4 ?
A: No update to books online for SP4, but we will have very detailed readmes and fixlists available.

Matthias Berndt (Expert):
Again - it's super to have such great turnout on this live web chat. I want to encourage you to test SP4 Beta. If you are not yet registered for the SP4 Beta, please go to http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/betanominations.mspx and become a Beta tester! Regards, Matthias Berndt

MariaB (Expert):
Q: 4. As for the beta testing itself, I've read most of the newsgroup threads but they are mostly smaller scale installations. I haven't seen to much on larger and/or clustered installs. Any additional MS testing for these?
A: We have several production deployments of SP4 today. Most of those are small to medium, however one is quite large and complex. One of the medium deployments was on a read-only cluster.

Max (Expert):
Q: Will some fixes which are not currently public be made known after SP4 is released?
A: No. We don't tend to change what we make public. If it's going to be public we generally it over with right up front.

MariaB (Expert):
Q: Any impact to the new History tool?
A: Do you mean the Health and History tool? If so, no changes.

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: Will there be a concurrent release of Analysis Services sp4?
A: Yes.

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: I had a problem with sql changing ports on me. Is that amoung the fixes in sp4?
A: SP4 should not change any port configurations.

Michael Rys (Expert):
Q: Thank you, experts! (H) Until next time!
A: You are welcome :)

Matthias Berndt (Expert):
Q: Will the Enterprise Manager in SP4 allow registration of a SQLServer 2005 instance?
A: No - it will not allow registration of a SQL Server 2005 Server

Umachandar [UC] (Expert):
Q: Will there be any new security settinsg or options introduced in SP4?
A: No.

MariaB (Expert):
Q: Will more granular auditing (SOX) be available?
A: No special SOX features are in SP4.

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: Will there be changes to BPA or MBSA as a result of SP4?
A: Yes, there will be update to MBSA to detect SP4

Max (Expert):
Q: Clusters will have to reboot? Does that mean we have to have an outage of both Active/Active instances on a cluster when applying SP4 to one of those instances (as both nodes would need the reboot)?
A: No, no *real* downtime as these happen necessarily in serial. It works like this. The Active node installs the SQL files and modifies the database files as needed, then it kicks into restart mode. This fails over to the next node, which inherits the link to the source for SP4 and the already upgraded database files. It upgrades to SP4 and picks up the DBs...then it goes into restart mode. So own around the 2/4/8 nodes of the cluster. That way all the nodes are upgraded. Now, the downtime is really officially not happening because there is always one running SQL...moving around the circle. Realistically, there is a few seconds/minutes of downtime depending on how long your hardware takes to fail over...and how many transactions in your tlog.

Matthias Berndt (Expert):
Q: sorry i joined late and maybe someone alreayd asked. when is SP4 coming out to all of us?
A: Yes - we answered before. We target H1 CY2005 for release

James Howey (Expert):
Q: does sp4 affect users databases
A: SP4 does not include updates to user databases. You are nonetheless encouraged to back up system and user databases before testing or deploying sp4. If any changes to user databases are encountered, please file a bug via betaplace.

Max (Expert):
Q: For Max's response. Thank you; yes, that cleared up the labeling issues for post SP3a and SP4. Since SS2K hotfixes are cumulative, I just assumed there would be no more SP3a only fixes.
A: Nope, we're going to be shipping a LOT more SP3 hotfixes I suspect. :)

Michael Rys (Expert):
Q: when are you supporting the RowNum pseudocolumn?
A: Wrong Product :) . Seriously: Not currently. Maybe in a future release depending on usefulness and impact on architecture.

Max (Expert):
Q: Max, there is a Post SP3a that puts SQL as 818 build before SP4
A: Handled previously, I believe

Umachandar [UC] (Expert):
Q: In addition, what about changes that impact performance tuning queries and stored procedures?
A: There are no major changes. You will have to however test your application with the new service pack to access any impact. There are several performance related bug fixes. You can check the fixlist for that. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306908

Umachandar [UC] (Expert):
Q: Does SP4 offer any additional standard SQL account password profile rules (i.e. stricter password rule enforcement, longer passwords, no null passwords, etc.)?
A: There are no password policies. The only check is the null password enforcement.

Umachandar [UC] (Expert):
Q: Does SP4 offer any additional standard SQL account password profile rules (i.e. stricter password rule enforcement, longer passwords, no null passwords, etc.)?
A: To clarify, there is only null password check for sa account.

Jason Watters (Expert):

Q: 5. As for the beta testing, the only issues I have had have related to the SS2K5 Beta 1's usage of MDAC 9 beta 1. Beta 2 didn't deploy it. These are betas, of course, but is there testing for MDAC prior to SS2K5 and will SS2K SP4 work with it?
A: We are no longer shipping MDAC 9.0. In fact, Yukon is not shipping any version of MDAC. Instead, it is shipping with SNAC (SQL Native Access Client). You can find a little bit of info on SNAC in this article: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnmdac/html/data_mdacroadmap.asp. Moving forward, MDAC releases will ship exclusively within the Windows OS releases.

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: Will SQLServer 2000 ever allow for that? Is it in the works?
A: This issue has not been addressed in SP4. The problem is described here: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;323280

Matthias Berndt (Expert):
Q: Will SQLServer 2000 ever allow for that? Is it in the works?
A: Assume this is follow up question of whether SQL Server 2000 EM will be able to register SQL Server 2005 instances. The answer is no. The object model between the releases is fundamentally different.

Ajay Manchepalli (Expert):
Q: Follow-up to Hyper-Treading question. I'm question KB article 838765. I've had this problem arise on several occasions.
A: The title of the KB article you mention is: You may notice unpredictable behavior on a multiprocessor computer that is running SQL Server 2000 and has the Physical Addressing Extensions (PAE) specification enabled
Is this what you are talking about? Looking at the KB, I see that this is a Windows specific issue and a windows fix has been recommended.

Jason Watters (Expert):
Q: 5. As for the beta testing, the only issues I have had have related to the SS2K5 Beta 1's usage of MDAC 9 beta 1. Beta 2 didn't deploy it. These are betas, of course, but is there testing for MDAC prior to SS2K5 and will SS2K SP4 work with it?
A: We are doing testing to make sure that earlier MDAC clients will work with SS2K5. Hope that answers your question.

Umachandar [UC] (Expert):
Q: If using queries with UDFs in SP3, fn_get_sql sometimes returns a UDF code statement rather than the outer query. Is this fixed in SP4? /a known issue?/ not considered a problem? The benefit of fn_get_sql is reduced by this 'feature'
A: fn_get_sql does handle nesting level but there are no changes to this one. It is meant to identify statements that you cannot get via DBCC INPUTBUFFER. So it does help in this case of using UDFs in queries.

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: How does SP4 improve communications with MAPI clients & Exchange 200x on an intranet? Refer to KB 833045 to understand more about our problems...
A: KB 833045 should be fixed in SP4

Jason Watters (Expert):
Q: you where talking about installing sp4 without reboot.
A: The only reboot you'll have is if you have locked files. The system will have to reboot when files are locked. To prevent locked files, shut down as many other applications as you can. You can check HKLM/System/CCS/Control/Sessionmanager/Pendingfilerename for which files were locked. Then use the DLL Help database up on MSDN to figure how who this is. Some things just can not be stopped...and the reboot is thus required. MDAC is probably the most common one of those. MDAC will install 2.81 on Win2000 but not on Win2003 and WinXP.

Babak Ahmadi (Expert):
Q: How did you select the build cutoffs for SP4? For example, AS SP4 Beta looks like Build 974 (based on KB articles) but there are higher builds out there (at least 992)?
A: Cut off was determined mostly by time constraints, but related functionality also played a strong role. e.g. build 992 that you're seeing for AS is actually an AS SP3 hotfix

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: SQL Server service packs currently include cummulative bug fixes and enhancements. This combo makes people reluctant to apply them. Any plans to segregate bugs and enhancements?
A: Generally we do not include new features in service Packs. Service Packs get more regression testing then hotfixes. In otherwords you may consider service packs as big patch. I would suggest to first try SP in your test environment before applying to production.

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: Some of our folks using the Enterprise Manager Client have an issue with lost server registrations whenever they change their NT Password. Will that problem be resolved? I know of some systems here which work (mine is one) and others don't
A: (answered: see previous posting)

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: Will SP4 fix the display problem with the database diagram tool - it doesn't always re-connect the tables when it is opened second time around!
A: This problem should be fixed in SP4. The Visual Design Tools (Table Designer, Query Designer, DB Diagrams) were updated in SP4

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: How does SP4 improve communications with MAPI clients & Exchange 200x servers on an intranet? Refer to KB 833045 to understand more about our problems...
A: The KB in question should be fixed in SP4

Phillip Garding (Expert):
Q: Will it be possible to use transactional replication from a SP4 instance to a SQL 2005 instance?
A: No, that is not supported. Our version requirements are Distributor > Publisher > Subscriber. If Publisher is SQL2000 SP4, the Subscriber version cannot be greater than that.

Jason Watters (Expert):
Q: Finally, when is SP4 Beta 2 scheduled and are there plans for a Release Candidate?
A: No SP4 beta 2 scheduled, and no public release candidate planned either.

Umachandar [UC] (Expert):
Q: How does SP4 improve communications with MAPI clients & Exchange 200x servers on an intranet? Refer to KB 833045 to understand more about our problems...
A: Yes, this is part of the fixlist. Check the SP4 fixlist at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306908

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: can i attach sp4 user datadase to any sp3 or sp3a sql server ?
A: yes, user can attach user databases. User can not attach system databases of different version number.

Babak Ahmadi (Expert):
Q: are add-ons like XML/A 1.1 part of the test suite for AS SP4?
A: As you proabably know, XMLA SDK is a separate release; our tests include some limited "sanity" testing of XMLA add-on, and also include backward compatibility tetsing, but no comprehensive testing of the SDK itself is planned. Note that comprehensive testing of XMLA has been already done for the previous release of this SDK and will be again should a new release bcome available.

Jason Watters (Expert):
Q: What is the target date for Yukon?
A: Summer 2005.

Ajay Manchepalli (Expert):
Q: Followup to hyper-threading. Yes KB article 838765 is the article. So what you saying is SQL Server has no effect on this problem and it purely a windows issue?
A: Yes, this requires a windows fix. Here is part of the Resolution section - To resolve this problem, you must apply operating system hotfixes. For a computer that is running Microsoft Windows 2000 based operating system, apply hotfix Q838647

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Q: When building an erd on a server everything is fine, if I then go back to my remote machine and try to pull it up it just gives me a blank screen. Does anyone know anything about this?
A: Database Diagrams went through an update in SP4 - it could possibly resolve this issue.

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: Sorry If this was mentioned earlier, I missed it. I beleive I understand that SP4 will not be able to rollback. So if I apply SP4, I cannot uninstall it, I would have to install a copy of the MSDE w/SP3a, or RTM then apply SP3a?
A: yes. I would highly suggest to backup system and user dataases before applying SP4. Refer readme for more MSDE information.

Phillip Garding (Expert):
Q: Will it be possible to use transactional replication from a SP4 instance to a SQL 2005 instance?
A: I gave an incorrect answer. What I stated previously was a limitation in past versions. The distributor/publisher can be SP4 and the subscriber can be 2005. Or the distributor/publisher can be 2005 and the subscriber can be SP4. Or you can have a 2005 distributor and publisher/subscribers that are sp4. The one thing they can not have is the distributor being downlevel to the publisher. Distributor has to be equal to or higher than the publishing/subscriber nodes. I apologize for the error.

Ariel Netz (Expert):
Q: How did you select the build cutoffs for SP4? For example, AS SP4 Beta looks like Build 974 (based on KB articles) but there are higher builds out there (at least 992)?
A: we had to make the cut at some point as you need to make it to the beta, so its mostly a driven by schedule. that said, between the date the beta shipped and the date SP4 will be released, we will fix additional QFE's, those will be reviewed and you should expect to see some "newer" fixes be included in the final release

Rajesh Patel (Expert):
Q: Do you have any chats scheduled for Yukon?
A: Thank you much. It was pleasure chatting with you. We would be interested to hear from you and please shre your feedback.

Moderator (Moderator):
The chat has come to an end. I wanted to thank all of you for coming. The Experts enjoyed and were challenged by your questions today. The transcript will be posted on TechNet (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/trans/default.mspx) and SSWUG after the chat. Please visit our chat calendar for a list of upcoming chats (www.microsoft.com/communities/chats/default.mspx). We hope to see you again soon.

Moderator (Moderator):
I wanted to send a big thank you to SSWUG (http://www.sswug.org) for their partnership on advertising these chats!

Jason Watters (Expert):
Thanks for all the questions! Hope we were able to answer most if not all of your questions and concerns!

Seth Sanusi (Expert):
Hey - it was great chatting with everyone! Thanks (H)

Babak Ahmadi (Expert):
Tanx for tuning in -- we appreciate your feedback!

SWynkoop_SSWUG (Expert):
Thanks everyone - a great chat with a huge audience. Thanks very much for all of your great questions -- We'll get the transcripts posted to www.sswug.org ASAP. Don't forget the upcoming webcasts on SSWUG - http://www.sswug.org/webcasts. See you online!

Michael Rys (Expert):
Thanks for the questions. Don't forget to signup for the beta and continue your feedback and questions on the SP4 Beta newsgroups.