SQLServerPedia

So now that Service Pack 1 is out for SQL Server 2008 and the excuse reason of wanting to wait till Service Pack 1 before upgrade is out of the way let’s talk about some advice when doing an upgrade to SQL Server 2008. (This is NOT a comprehensive list just a braindump of some things that come to my mind)

First off for the love of all things good and pure in the world please make use of the Upgrade Advisor.  This has been around since SQL Server 2005 and it has proven time and time again to be an amazingly helpful tool when doing an upgrade.  On a side note about Upgrade Advisor… don’t just run it against your instance… take the time to run TSQL Replay traces (for an appropriate sample size of normal activity) and run those through the upgrade advisor as well… this will capture the commands that are run against the database that do not exist in an object.

Next… use the community… there are ALOT of keeners out there that have written some great articles on things to watch out for and have documented their upgrade experiences so if this is your first upgrade (or if you’re an upgrade pro) take some time, read what others have written cause it could spark a thought or idea on how to make your upgrade experience that much smoother.

If you’re a speed reader and/or have a tonne of time to do an upgrade there is a Microsoft published SQL Server 2008 Upgrade Technical Reference Guide  that is about 500 pages of upgrady goodness.

Try to install and setup all the “pre-setup” stuff before doing your upgrade.  Things like cumulative updates, .net framework, etc can all be done before hand so that you minimize the amount of time (and potential problems) when actually installing/upgrading SQL Server 2008

If you’re doing an inplace upgrade make sure that you know what version and service pack level of SQL Server can be upgraded to SQL Server 2008.   Take a peek at this and make sure that you’re on a supported path for upgrade.  If you’re not then your first priority should be getting your current environment onto a supported version before considering an upgrade to SQL Server 2008.

Anyways like I said… not a comprehensive list but more of a warning and a “sneak peek” into some of the things you should look out for and tasks you should perform when thinking about taking the plunge into SQL Server 2008.  Microsoft has done a good job at providing tools and documentation for upgrading to SQL Server 2008, make use of them and you should find your upgrade experience to be a smooth less painful experience.

Enjoy!!!