Current SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition (32-bit) customers can switch to the 64-bit release at no additional upgrade cost. Microsoft SQL Server 2000 is the complete database and analysis offering ...

The main enhancement of 64-bit SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition is optimization for the Itanium 2 processor. Some earlier test versions of SQL Server were built for the original Itanium processor.

The 64-bit database released Thursday is based on Service Pack 3 of SQL Server 2000, which means it shouldn’t be susceptible to the SQL Slammer worm that spread rapidly in January, Tullis said.

Microsoft officials previously had said the 64-bit version would follow by about 30-45 days the much-delayed Windows .Net Server, which is due in the second half of this year.

The federal Department of Employment and Workplace Relations' (DEWR) recent upgrade of the back-end of its online services portal to Microsoft's 64-bit SQL Server 2005 database hit only one hitch ...

For its part, NEC Solutions America Inc. will integrate SQL Server 2005 into its Express5800/1000 server series, powered by Intels 64-bit Itanium 2 processors, and its Fibre Channel Storage S series.

The upcoming SQL Server 2005, code-named Yukon, will offer native 64-bit support. It is still expected by year's end, the spokeswoman said.