we have a local staging server running sql server 2000 and a remote public version also running sql server 2000. The remote version will be upgraded to 2005 and I am wondering if the DTS packages we have in place will continue to function between the two machines?
If not, what would be the simplest, most efficient way to sync between the two?
We will not be upgrading the local server, and the upgrade of the remote one will be taking place very soon (not in our control).
Thank you!
If your DTS packages reside on the local server, there shouldn't be an issue (aside from obvious changes to SQL itself (I.E. the old-school joins not working anymore)), and in fact, I've even seen developers save DTS packages on SQL 2005 databases though I'm sure it's not a very good idea.
EDIT: It might also be worthwhile to check out this link for the tools to design/modify DTS packages with SQL Server Management Studio.
Related
Since we need to move around our database a lot (like update it with new Rows which are generated by code and then update it prod db and reverse process). SQL Server CE, being a file based system was very helpful.
We would like to upgrade to use SQL Server Local Db but at the same time, it has limitations of use with IIS (though possible with AttacheDbFile). In this regard, since LocalDb is more or less a version of SQL Server Express, would it be possible to use our SQL Server LocalDB .mdf in our development environment and then copy them in prod but use by attaching to a SQL Server Express instance?
If yes, what additional thing, we need to do make it possible?
Also, we would like the reverse process to be worked out as well, mean detach the .mdf file and use it as LocalDb in development environment. I have read the great blog articles of
Krzysztof Kozielczyk also but not have experimented much with LocalDb.
LocalDB IS SQL Server Express (introduced with SQL Server 2012 Express), and the .mdf file is identical between LocalDB and SQL Server Express (and even a "full" SQL Server edition like Web, Standard or Enterprise Edition).
The only caveat is: you need to be using the same versions of those databases, since the file format is only identical amongst same versions, and can only be used amongst the same versions (e.g. 2012) - or it can be "upgraded" to the next newer version (e.g. you could move a database from LocalDB 2012 to a SQL Server 2014 Express once it's released) - but you can never go back down to an earlier version (you cannot take a LocalDB 2012 .mdf database file and attach it to a SQL Server 2008 version).
I was wondering if we could backup the database that we currently host on regular SQL Server, and put it onto our clients computer when we setup SQL Server Express for them.
Is this possible?
Thanks,
Matt
Yes, it's possible to restore a database backup from the Standard edition to the Express edition. It's not possible to restore a SQL Server 2008 to a SQL Server 2005 version, though.
However, there a some minor differences between versions. I've noticed an issue in SQL Server Express 2005 when calling .NET SQL CLR functions across databases, so your mileage may vary. I haven't been able to find a good overview of the exact differences between the various SQL Server editions.
It's always best to keep the development platform as close as possible to the release platform. I can only recommend that you use the Express edition of SQL Server for development as well; and re-test your application.
When in 'SQL Server Configuration Manager' I see, under 'SQL Server Services', 2 items that look like SQL Server's:
SQL Server (sqlexpress)
SQL Server (mssqlserver)
Does that mean I have 2 versions installed at the same time? The 'SQL Server (mssqlserver) is currently stopped).
You have two instances. They might or might not be the same version (meaning 2005/2008).
Express is just an SKU / edition from the myriad of different editions.
You can have the same version or multiple versions/SKUs installed as different instances on the same machine.
So unless someone wittingly set up a new instance with the name "sqlexpress", you probably have two kinds of products installed (both can be 2008 or both can be 2005 or they can be different - it is just that one of them is presumably the Express SKU while the other is say Standard.)
You can get more information on the instances by using ##VERSION.
It looks like you got SQL Server Express installed with Visual Studio and then later installed SQL Server 2008. I've done this before and the best solution I found was to completely uninstall SQL Server Express and SQL Server 2008. Remove all the files in the Microsoft SQL Server directory in Program Files, then reinstall SQL Server 2008. If you still have problems getting the 2008 instance to be the default, you may also need to uninstall Visual Studio.
In the future, if you're going to install the development (or other) version of SQL Server locally, I suggest making sure you install it before Visual Studio. The VS install won't install SQL Server Express if it detects an existing SQL Server instance on the system.
BTW, you can verify if this is true by using the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel item.
SQLExpress is the light/free edition, usually used for developers or very lightweight applications.
MSSQLServer is the full blown SQL install.
So yes you have 2 "SQL Server" installs, but they are different products, I can't say which versions based on your provided data.
You have two SqlServer instances installed on your system. One is SqlServer Express Edition and the other one a Sql Server. I can't say which version or edition.
Maybe you can find some more information in the registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft).
I'd vote against removing either one--SQL server does fine with multiple instances and they are good for different things. For example, lots of open source projects presume a local copy of sql express at .\SQLEXPRESS for development use. Whereas you can't write analysis service stuff with SQL Express.
Or, its not a problem. Those aren't the droids your looking for. Move along.
What I have found on the 'net seems a little ambiguous whether or not something needs to be installed on the server to use the Sync Framework with SQL Server 2005.
My interpretation is no, that the ADO.NET'ness of the product reaches out to the server (assuming appropriately trackable tables exist).
My goal is to use SQL Compact on the client and Sync with SQL Server 2005 with no install on the server.
A little help would be great!
Thanks,
rusty
Other than the change tracking infrastructure (SQL Server 2008 Change Tracking or Triggers etc), you will not need to install any Sync Framework components on the SQL Server machine to be able to include it in a Sync topology.
Cheers,
Scott
As far as I know, SQL Server 2005 does not need the Microsoft Sync Framework installed.
I'm setting up a new development server and want to install the latest version of SQL Server 2008 Express.
Will our existing sql2005 databases work with 2008 without modification?
If so is there any reason to install both versions on the same server?
I haven't actually tried migrating a 2005 database to 2008, but generally SQL handles this cleanly and without difficulty. The simplest way to do it would be to make a backup of your database from SQL 2005 and then restore that backup with SQL 2008.
If you want to keep the SQL 2005 copy around and online until you know that the 2008 copy is working, you might need to move the data/log files for your database when restoring the backup onto 2008, since the old data files will be in use by 2005. You can do this using the with move option of restore database, for example:
RESTORE DATABASE mydb FROM disk = 'c:\backupfile.bak'
WITH MOVE 'maindatafile' to 'c:\newdatalocation.mdf',
MOVE 'mainlogfile' to 'c:\newloglocation.ldf'
As to having both installed at the same time, one reason you might decide to do this would be to simplify the job of testing code against both versions, if you were intending to have your software support talking to both versions.
You can detatch a 2005 database and attach it to a 2008 server. I would recommend against installing both on the same machine unless you must (e.g. you're writing code for a third party and they only use 2005).
What I'd highly recommend is using windows server 2008 hyper-v to create 2 virtual machines one with the 2005 environment, the other with 2008. Hyper-v virtual machines are incredibly faster than Virtual server 2007.
The databases should (should!) work unmodified. However, for development it is preferable that you have sql2005 to test your scripts unless you assume all your clients would upgrade to 2008 as well, since 2008 has features that do not exist in SQL Server 2005.
In dev and test environments, having multiple database servers installed is not a problem and can reduce the number of test servers required.
In production, I wouldn't recommend it due to the fact that multiple buffer pools fight and kill your performance.
To me the important thing is will you have prod instances that are 2005 databases? Will you have to support reporting services reports that are on a prod server that only has the 2005 version of reporting servives, etc?
If so, you should have both the 2005 and the 2008 versions on your development machines. I've seen a lot of code that had to be thrown out because developers worked on 2008 when prod was 2005. ALways develop against the version of the software you will have in prod. If you are converting to 2008 but not there in prod yet, you need both, one for maintenance changes and one for future stuff.
Personally I have SQL server 2000, 2005 and 2008 on my machine because we haven't converted everything yet and I have some things which can only be done on the older version. We have found the key to maintaining multiple versions is to install them i nthe correct order. It seems to go badly if you put 2008 on first and then the older versions.
Sometimes you need to be able to test on multiple versions, or you may need 2005 for one thing and 2008 for another.
Sometimes you maintain several different apps, some of which are on one and some on the other, and you haven't updated everything yet. Sometimes you're upgrading, and need to test on both versions during the upgrade. Sometimes you support several different customers, some on one version and some on another. Sometimes you want to upgrade your internal apps, but you're using a software package that is only certified on an older version.
There's lots of reasons.