Each version of Microsoft’s SQL Server comes with five years of full support, followed by five years of security-only updates. Here are five questions to ask before your next upgrade. 1. Should My ...

Russell Smith is a technology consultant and trainer specializing in management and security of Microsoft server and client technologies. He is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer with more than 15 ...

SQL Server 2012/2014 delivers compelling new capabilities that make an upgrade worthwhile. Many IT professionals agree that the AlwaysOn Availability Group (AG) feature offers the most value with its ...

Microsoft has provided several options for support and for managing the upgrade process with precise control. Beyond just upgrading your database, you should push your application vendors to support ...

Brien M. Posey is a freelance technical writer who has contributed to dozens of books and is a six-time Microsoft MVP award winner. SQL Server 2005 reaches its end-of-life milestone on April 12, the ...

Sometimes, life really is like a box of chocolates. The same can also be said for software upgrades. Take, for instance, Visual Studio 2008. After all its various CTPs and RTMs, I feel like I've been ...

Alan Joch has been an independent business and technology writer for more than a decade. His expertise includes server and desktop virtualization, cloud computing, emerging mobile applications, and ...

At first glance, I was a bit critical of the latest version of the Upgrade Advisor. Well, after going through that painful process, I proceeded onto my upgrade from SQL Server 2005 to 2008 using the ...

While SQL Server 2008 was little more than a service-pack level upgrade, the 2012 version of Microsoft’s database has a boatload of new features and delivers solid performance improvements.