Improved buffer size negotiation   Buffer sizes can now be specified separately for both the client and the server.

To use this feature, you must use version 8 software at both the client and the server. You do not need to upgrade the database.

Communication compression   A new type of communication compression can lead to improved performance if you are transferring data across networks with limited bandwidth, including some wireless networks, some modems, serial links and some WANs.

For more information, see Adjusting communication compression settings to improve performance.

To use this feature, you must use version 8 software at both the client and the server. You do not need to upgrade the database.

Enhanced dbping   The dbping utility has additional options to help diagnose connection problems. These include the ability to use ODBC to connect, and the ability to report connection, database, and server properties upon connection.

For more information, see Ping utility (dbping).

Suppress TDS debugging option   The suppress_tds_debugging option controls whether TDS debugging information appears in the database server messages window.

For more information, see suppress_tds_debugging option [database].

PrefetchBuffer connection parameter   This connection parameter lets you specify the maximum amount of memory for storing prefetched rows.

For more information, see PrefetchBuffer connection parameter [PBUF].

PrefetchRows connection parameter   The PrefetchRows connection parameter lets you specify the maximum number of rows to prefetch when querying the database. In some circumstances, increasing the number of rows prefetched from the database server by the client can improve query performance.

For more information, see PrefetchRows connection parameter [PROWS].

Client can specify idle timeout   Each client can specify its own idle timeout using the IDLE connection parameter. Previously, all connections to a server used the same idle timeout which was specified by the -ti server command line option.

For more information, see Idle connection parameter.