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Windows Server Upgrade on a host which has SQL Server running.

udhayan d 181 Reputation points
2021-01-23T16:49:54.397+00:00

Hi,

Infra team has plans to upgrade a host from Windows server 2008 to 2016.
We have SQL Server 2008R2 running in that host. What are the implications of this upgrade to the DB.
Since SQL 2008R2 is not supported in Windows 2016, i wanted to upgrade SQL 2008R2 to 2014.
Is it possible to do an in-place upgrade of SQL Server 2008R2 to SQL 2014 after i have upgraded Windows server from 2008 to 2016

Thanks

Windows Server 2016
Windows Server 2016
A Microsoft server operating system that supports enterprise-level management updated to data storage.
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SQL Server
SQL Server
A family of Microsoft relational database management and analysis systems for e-commerce, line-of-business, and data warehousing solutions.
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  1. Erland Sommarskog 107.2K Reputation points
    2021-01-23T18:31:41.027+00:00

    Why upgrade to SQL 2014, a product which is out of mainstream support? Why not SQL 2019? Even SQL 2016 would be a better choice.

    First make sure that you have installed SP3 for SQL 2008 R2. Else any attempt to upgrade is likely to fail.

    I have not tested, but I would assume that SQL 2008 continues to run on Windows Server 2016, even if it is not supported. Then you can do the upgrade. And don't forget to apply SP3 and CU4 for SP3, if you go for SQL 2014. I would also recommend that you add -T4199 to the startup parameters, to get optimizer fixes. This is particularly important on SQL 2014, as else you do not get the fixes for the issues with the new cardinality estimator. (On the other hand, if you go for SQL 2016 or later, you don't have to bother.)

    You should also test the application on SQL 2014 (or which version you go for before the upgrade). There were a few features discontinued with the release of SQL 2012. I don't know what sort of system this is, but there can also be performance regressions. The more important the system is, the more important it is to test.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
  2. Anonymous
    2021-01-23T18:36:55.307+00:00

    First I'd check here and with manufacturer about support for server 2016.
    https://www.windowsservercatalog.com/

    Then assuming its supported do not do an in-place upgrade as this is risky and problematic for a number of reasons.

    --please don't forget to Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--

  3. Anonymous
    2021-01-25T15:16:36.963+00:00

    I dont have any other option.. Whatever I had to do, I have to do with the same host.

    Sounds like you need to push back on your Infra team, for clean install on supported hardware.

    --please don't forget to Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--

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