We’ll I’ve finely gotten around to installing the SQL 2008 November CTP. While walking through the installer I have seen some excellent changes. Not only is the option to change the paths of the data files no longer hidden, there are more than just two options. There are at least 7 paths that you get to specify while installing. The first one is the Shared component directory. This appears to be the base path where all your binarys will be based off of.
Next you get the Instance root directory. This is where the system database files will be based off of, so make sure that you don’t point this to the C drive is you want the system databases on another drive.
A couple of screens later you get to set 6 install paths. The first is the data root directory. This changes the base path for all the others options. The others are the User database folder, user log database folder, tempdb data folder, tempdb log folder, and the backup directory.
This amount of flexability in the installer is a first, and it’s a welcome change. Look for more posts, tips and articles about SQL Server 2008 in the comming weeks and months up till the release.
Denny