Upgrading SQL Server 2008 and R2

Should I upgrade from SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 now that it is at end of life?

On July 9, 2019 SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 reached their end of life for support. Technically what this means is that 2008 and 2008 R2 have reached the “Extended Support End Date”. This means that Microsoft will no longer provide technical support including security updates after this date.

Pros to Upgrading:

• Extended support from Microsoft including security patches.
• Increased reliability.
• Meet regulatory requirements such as PCI-DSS for credit card processing, or other audits.
• Access to new features.
• In the event of a security breech you can’t be blamed for making the decision to not upgrade.
• You have a larger pool of experienced people to help you.

Cons to Upgrading:

• The applications that we use may not support the newer version.
• I may need to buy new licensing for SQL Server.
• I need to spend time or money perform the upgrade.
• Higher maintenance costs to keep the older SQL Server running.

What I mean by a larger pool of experienced people to help you, if you were on SQL Server 2000 today in 2019, it is hard to find people with SQL Server 2000 experience. Similar applies to SQL Server 2005 and 2008.

Shortly after the end of life of SQL Server 2005 I worked with a client who had database corruption, and when they called Microsoft they were told that 2005 was no longer supported, and that they need to upgrade before they could get help. Given that they had a corrupt database that would not come online, they were not in a position to upgrade.

With all of that being said, if your software vendor says they will not support their product on a newer version of SQL Server, then that would be the time to not do the upgrade, and if they are not going to support a newer version anytime soon, start looking for a new software product.

Yes there are some great reason to not upgrade, but generally the pros of upgrading outweigh the cons.

Need help upgrading – Stedman Solutions can help.

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