SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services (RS) is a powerful solution that enables the authoring, management, and delivery of both paper-oriented reports and interactive Web-based reports. With SQL Reporting Services, organizations can create reports to be published to the Report Server using Microsoft or third-party design tools that use Report Definition Language (RDL), an XML-based industry standard. Report definitions and resources are published and managed as Web services and users can view reports in Web-based formats or via email. Included with SQL Server 2008 is a group of interrelated applications, collectively known as SQL Server Reporting Service (SSRS). SSRS includes all the development and management pieces necessary to publish end user reports in HTML, PDF, Excel, and CSV formats. Originally released as a SQL 2000 separate add on that could be downloaded from the web, all the Reporting Server pieces are now bundled in SQL 2008.
