Get SQL Server 2016 CTP3 and work on SQL Server 2016 soon

SQL Server Team blog on 10/18/2015 announced the availability of SQL Server 2016 CTP3 besides quite a few others. This post is related to CTP2 only.

Microsoft has been very active in working on its database product SQL Server 2016 this year as seen in the number of posts. It is still in CTP but then it is not 2016 yet. These are the quoted kye words for this version,'faster transactions and queries, deeper insights on any device, advanced analytics, new security technology, and new hybrid cloud scenarios'.

http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2015/05/sql-serverr-2016-early-bird-special.html -5/13
http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2015/05/start-evaluating-sql-server-2016-ctp2.html -5/28
http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2015/07/sql-server-2016-ctp-21-is-ready-for.html -7/11
http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2015/07/upgrading-sql-server-2016-ctp-2-to-sql.html -7/11
http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2015/07/notes-2-sql-server-management-studio.html -7/13
http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2015/08/regarding-sql-server-2016-ctp-22.html -8/06
http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2015/09/download-sql-server-ctp-23-and-check.html -9/11

You can download from here after the sign in ritual.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-sql-server-2016.
From the other links on the above site you can download the previous versions of SQL Servers(2014 SP1 and 2012 SP1; both evaluation versions valid for 180 days)

The stated benefits of the CTP3 are the following:

•     Enhanced in-memory performance provide up to 30x faster transactions, more than 100x faster queries than disk based relational databases and real-time operational analytics

•     New Always Encrypted technology helps protect your data at rest and in motion, on-premises and in the cloud, with master keys sitting with the application, without application changes

•     Built-in advanced analytics– provide the scalability and performance benefits of building and running your advanced analytics algorithms directly in the core SQL Server transactional database

•     Business insights through rich visualizations on mobile devices with native apps for Windows, iOS and Android

•     Simplify management of relational and non-relational data with ability to query both through standard T-SQL using PolyBase technology

•     Stretch Database technology keeps more of your customer’s historical data at your fingertips by transparently stretching your warm and cold OLTP data to Microsoft Azure in a secure manner  without application changes

•     Faster hybrid backups, high availability and disaster recovery scenarios to backup and restore your on-premises databases to Microsoft Azure and place your SQL Server AlwaysOn secondaries in Azure

File formats are 64bit ISO or CAB. The installation is as usual except if you are using Microsoft Edge, you cannot save, you just run. However you do get an option to name a directory (with a default) to save extracted files.

Keep coming back to Hodentek and HodentekMSSS for more posts on SQL Server related information.