Planning For SQL Server 2005 End Of Support Part 1
Over the last few years we've seen the end of support reached for some products that were in widespread use, such as Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, and next year sees SQL Server 2005 and Internet Explorer editions prior to Internet Explorer reaching end of support. The next few posts will focus on the SQL Server 2005 April 12 2016 end of support resources that are available, and then the focus will be on Internet Explorer resources. First up, let's start with a quick video update from the SQL Server team that can be shared with your customers if needed to help explain what's changing.
Which of the SQL Server 2005 products are affected? This table, from the Microsoft Support Lifecycle page covers the details, note that the dates are in US format. What is important to note here is that this doesn't just impact those workloads running Standard or Enterprise, which maybe be on the hitlist for upgrading, but it's also versions such as Express that may be distributed throughout your customer environments depending on what software has been installed over the years.
| Products Released | Lifecycle Start Date | Mainstream Support End Date | Extended Support End Date | Service Pack Support End Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition | 2/19/2007 | 4/12/2011 | 4/12/2016 | 7/10/2007 | |
| Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition | 1/14/2006 | 4/12/2011 | 4/12/2016 | 7/10/2007 | |
| Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition | 1/14/2006 | 4/12/2011 | 4/12/2016 | 7/10/2007 | |
| Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems | 1/14/2006 | 4/12/2011 | 4/12/2016 | 7/10/2007 | |
| Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise X64 Edition | 1/14/2006 | 4/12/2011 | 4/12/2016 | 7/10/2007 | |
| Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition | 6/1/2006 | 4/12/2011 | 4/12/2016 | 7/10/2007 | |
| Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with Advanced Services | 7/16/2006 | 4/12/2011 | 4/12/2016 | 7/10/2007 | |
| Microsoft SQL Server 2005 for Embedded Systems | 1/14/2006 | 4/12/2011 | 4/12/2016 | 7/10/2007 | |
| Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 | 4/18/2006 | Not Applicable | Not Applicable | 4/8/2008 | |
| Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 | 2/19/2007 | Not Applicable | Not Applicable | 1/12/2010 | |
| Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3 | 12/15/2008 | Not Applicable | Not Applicable | 1/10/2012 | |
| Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 4 | 12/13/2010 | Review Note | Review Note | Support ends 12 months after the next service pack releases or at the end of the product's support lifecycle, whichever comes first. For more information, please see the service pack policy at https://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/#ServicePackSupport. | |
| Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition | 1/14/2006 | 4/12/2011 | 4/12/2016 | 7/10/2007 | |
| Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition for Itanium-based Systems | 1/14/2006 | 4/12/2011 | 4/12/2016 | 7/10/2007 | |
| Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Standard X64 Edition | 1/14/2006 | 4/12/2011 | 4/12/2016 | 7/10/2007 | |
| Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition | 1/14/2006 | 4/12/2011 | 4/12/2016 | 7/10/2007 |
For those that have customers that haven't ventured too far down the discovery path yet, the most important thing to do is determine what the customer has. You probably already know some of this from your work with customers around the Windows Server 2003 end of support engagements you had with them, but it could be a new customer. In that case an easy place to start the discovery process is with the latest version of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit, which I'll cover in more detail in the next post.