Upgrading from SQL 2000/2005 to 2008

Still running SQL Server 2000 or 2005?  Interested in upgrading to 2008, but not sure how to go about it?  Here are a couple of recently released resources from your friends at Microsoft to help you get through the upgrade with a clean bill of heath:

SQL Server 2008 Upgrade Technical Reference Guide – this 490-page whitepaper covers the essential phases and steps involved in upgrading existing SQL Server 2000 and 2005 databases to SQL Server 2008 by using best practices including preparation tasks, upgrade tasks, and post-upgrade tasks.  Here’s a snip from the ToC:

• Chapter 1 gives an overview of the technical issues and decisions that are involved in an upgrade to SQL Server 2008, as well as recommendations for planning and deploying an upgrade.
• Chapter 2 addresses issues related to upgrading to SQL Server 2008 Management Tools.
• Chapters 3 through 8 focus on upgrade issues for SQL Server relational databases.
• Chapter 9 addresses upgrading to SQL Server 2008 Express.
• Chapters 10 through 14 focus on upgrading to SQL Server 2008 Business Intelligence components: Analysis Services, Data Mining, Integration Services, and Reporting Services.
• Chapter 15 addresses the implications of upgrading to SQL Server 2008 for other Microsoft applications and platforms.
• Appendix 1 contains a table of allowed SQL Server 2008 version and edition upgrade paths.
• Appendix 2 contains an upgrade planning checklist.

Resources for Upgrading to SQL Server 2008 – these are the additional resources mentioned in the Upgrade TR located on MSDN. 

UE Team blog – the SQL Server User Education team blog.  Good resource for getting info on the latest developments in the SQL Server world.

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