Microsoft SQL Server 2008
SQL Server 2008 introduced a sophisticated set of geospatial functions. This includes geospatial data types, and a set of advanced geospatial T-SQL functions. SQL Server 2008's geospatial functionality can be used with the Microsoft mapping web services (MapPoint Web Service and the Bing Maps Enterprise Web Service); the .NET framework; and other database applications. The desktop version of MapPoint does not ship with direct support for SQL Server's geospatial functionality, but Microsoft have released a free MapPoint Add-in for SQL Server which interfaces the two into a powerful combination.
As such, SQL Server promises to be an important back-end component in a wide range of geospatial applications.
Further Reading
Alistair Aitchison's new book, Beginning Spatial with SQL Server 2008
