Simplifying sql server upgrades

Simplifying sql server upgrades

• 1.
  Upgrading SQL Server PREPAREFOR SUCCESS! SQL Saturday 877
• 2.
  About Mike Father, Husband,Founder, Friend Straight Path Solutions – straightpathsql.com SQL Server MVP User Group Leader Upgrade Scars? I have a few! (One bad decision by a client to do something you should NEVER do also covered payroll for Straight Path one month when we were a bit smaller . . .) If you get stuck with an upgrade question – mike@straightpathsql.com and mention you were here. Latest Blog Post on www.StraightPathSQL.com has these slides and some links – and will have more notes based on our conversation if needed. Straight Path Solutions
• 3.
  About This Talk Wehave an hour, we aren’t going to do a demo of an upgrade, we’re going to talk. My Goals for us today - ◦ Make upgrades simpler ◦ Get us thinking about upgrades way before the upgrade ◦ Introduce our checklist for you to use ◦ Make sure you never.ever.ever.ever entertain an in-place upgrade (SKU Upgrades excepted) ◦ Leave excited about the benefits of upgrades instead of fearing the stories you’ve heard. ◦ Think about Before/During/After steps Straight Path Solutions
• 4.
  Why Upgrade? SQL Server2008 Ended Life in July (with some caveats – check out www.sqlserver2008.com ) What Windows Version are you On? When was your last HW/VM Upgrade? Got Compliance? SQL Server 2012/2014 not a lot better for you! Straight Path Solutions
• 5.
  Why You Haven’t… “Wheredo I start?!” “What version/edition should I pick?” “What about the cloud?” “We’re too busy!!” “What about the downtime?!” “Will it break?” “What questions are we forgetting to ask?” Straight Path Solutions
• 6.
  The World hasChanged! Did You Know: ◦ SQL Server 2016 SP1 gave you enterprise features in Standard! ◦ SQL Server 2014 gave you 128GB of RAM in Standard! ◦ SQL Server 2019 is right around the corner! ◦ HA/DR Options are legion! ◦ The Cloud is viable – and comfortable even! Straight Path Solutions
• 7.
  Let’s Dive intoVersions What are our options? We support clients on six versions of SQL Server right now, I bet seven – I’m sure there is a SQL Server 2000 at some hospital somewhere running some old system! SQL Server 2016 SP1 marked a big change and gave us Basic Ags, gave us enterprise features in Standard. It’s well baked. It’s supported until 2021 in mainstream, 2026 until end of extended. SQL Server 2017 doubled down on some changes – but is still getting a lot of patches ;-), brought us linux, brought us R, made some Columnstore improvements. Mainstream support ends in October of 2022, extended support ends in 2027. SQL Server 2019 has promising features – but it’s not out, and I’m gun shy lately again! SQL Server 2008 - End of Extended THIS JULY. SQL Server 2012 end of mainstream July 2017, end of extended July 2022.. SQL Server 2014 Mainstream ends THIS JULY – extended ends 2024. Straight Path Solutions
• 8.
  Save Licensing? So… Corebased licensing is old news – but when was your last upgrade? Are you on Enterprise? Why? Let’s talk about that – Standard edition may be okay – it depends! Straight Path Solutions
• 9.
  HA/DR Options A bitout of scope – but we have so.many.options. Failover Cluster Instances Availability Groups Log Shipping VM Based HA Failover Cluster Instances without a SAN? Cloud based options? Bottomline – we have more options than SQL Server 2008 and before! Straight Path Solutions
• 10.
  What about…. Those…Vendors! I get it! You have to…. Talk….. To them! Let’s discuss. Straight Path Solutions
• 11.
  What about thecloud? What about it? It’s viable! Maybe now is a time to consider/look since you are making changes. Straight Path Solutions
• 12.
  Before/During/After We just describedthe before a bit. Let’s walk through the Checklist and Q&A to cover the during/after Don’t forget: ◦ Test ◦ Plan ◦ Monitor after ◦ Please, don’t do in place… Straight Path Solutions
• 13.
  Recap/Homework Decide “It’s time!” Picka likely SQL Server Version Pick a likely SQL Server Edition Begin thinking about and inventorying the DBs, apps and users on it! Test Upgrade Start monitoring well after Straight Path Solutions
• 14.
  THANK YOU!!!! Thanks forattending! E-Mail questions – mike@straightpathsql.com Check out today’s blog post – www.straightpathsql.com and links