SQL Server 2005 Tidbit 003

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SQL Server 2005 Tidbit 003

Manly SQL DBA

Tidbit time! Number 3…

This tidbit comes as a result of a question an attendee from one of our live TechNet Events emailed me.

"Can SQL Server 7.0 be upgraded directly to Yukon? Or does 7.0 need to be upgraded to SQL Server 2000 first? And what are my options with MSDE 7.0?”

No, you can't upgrade SQL Server 7 directly to SQL 2005.  First 7.0 needs to be upgraded to 2000.  However, if you do a new installation (either on another computer or even side-by-side on your existing SQL 7 server), it will automatically upgrade the metadata of the databases by either doing a backup/restore, database copy, or even a detach / attach of your old database onto the new server.  So your databases will be upgraded and usable right away.  This is true of SQL 7 databases as well.
And remember also that you have "backward compatibility levels" you can set for your database that will allow older T-SQL to run. (65, 70, 80, or the new 90 level).  This only affects T-SQL, however.  Other constructs may still need to be tweaked.  (Actually, there is even a 60 compatibility level, but those databases can't be managed in the management studio.)

The same is true for an upgrade-in-place.  The database metadata will be upgraded, but the data itself remains where it was.

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