VertiPaq Rebranded as xVelocity
Apparently, the name “VertiPaq” wasn’t catchy enough so Microsoft rebranded it as xVelocity (probably got tipped by Comcast). This is just a name change, no new features.
Glossary
xVelocity: The SQL Server family of technologies that utilize in-memory columnar storage to achieve very high-performance in query processing.
1. xVelocity for Business Intelligence
Introduced as VertiPaq in the SQL Server 2008 R2 release, this in-memory columnar storage technology is the analytical engine that powered PowerPivot in that release, and is now in both PowerPivot and SQL Server Analysis Services in Tabular mode for the SQL Server 2012 release. xVelocity for BI consists of:
- xVelocity In-memory Analytics Engine in SSAS 2012 Tabular Mode (used for enterprise-grade, scalable BI)
- xVelocity In-memory Analytics Engine (previously called Vertipaq) in PowerPivot (used for self-service and team-oriented BI scenarios), available in PowerPivot for Excel and SharePoint Server
2. xVelocity for Data Warehousing
Memory-optimized columnar (columnstore) index technology for use with SQL Server Data Warehouses. Data is stored in column-wise fashion that can be used to answer a query just like data in any other type of index. A columnstore index appears as an index on a table when examining catalog views or the Object Explorer in Management Studio. The query optimizer considers the columnstore index as a data source for accessing data just like it considers other indexes when creating a query plan.
Exceptions
In cases where the VertiPaq name appears in the product (VertiPaqpagingpolicy parameter, VertiPaq SE event, etc.), please continue to use VertiPaq, or xVelocity (VertiPaq) if necessary to avoid confusion.
