title: Anyone used SQl Server 2008 HierarchialID type to store genealogy data
body: <p>I have a genealogical database (about sheep actually), that is used by breeders to research genetic information. In each record I store fatherid and motherid. In a seperate table I store complete 'roll up' information so that I can quickly tell the complete family tree of any animal without recursing thru the entire database...</p>
  
  <p>Recently discovered the hierarchicalID type built into SQL server 2008, on the surface it sounds promising, but I and am wondering if anyone has used it enough to know whether or not it would be appropriate in my type of app(i.e. two parents, multiple kids)? All the samples I have found/read so far deal with manager/employee type relationships where a given boss can have multiple employees, and each employee can have a single boss.</p>
  
  <p>The needs of my app are similar, but not quite the same.</p>
  
  <p>I am sure I will dig into this new technology anyway, but it would be nice to shortcut my research if someone already knew that it was not designed in such a fashion that it would allow me to make use of it. </p>
  
  <p>I am also curious what kind of performance people are seeing using this new data type versus other methods that do the same thing.</p>