Database Engine Distributed Queries Enhancements
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 provides the following new and enhanced functionality for distributed queries.
Enhanced EXECUTE statement
The EXECUTE statement has been enhanced so it can be used to send pass-through commands to a linked server. For more information, see EXECUTE (Transact-SQL).
Support for CONTAINS full-text predicate
SQL Server Full-Text Search functionality can be applied on text data in remote servers when you use the CONTAINS predicate with SELECT queries against linked servers. For more information, see CONTAINS (Transact-SQL).
Support for varchar(max)
The enhanced varchar() data type is supported in distributed queries. For more information, see Data Type Mapping with Distributed Queries and Using Large-Value Data Types.
New SQL Trace events
New SQL Trace Events have been added that can help analyze and troubleshoot the integration of OLE DB providers with SQL Server distributed queries. These events provide information about every call that SQL Server makes against OLE DB providers.
Support for CLR user-defined types and the xml data type
Columns of common language runtime (CLR) user-defined types or the xml data type from remote instances of SQL Server can be consumed in pass-through queries.