DaleB (8/26/2016)
In the context of this thread why is a detach/attach upgrade process more risky than a backup/restore?
Mostly because it doesn't leave you an intact copy of the DB on the old version. SQL database upgrades are a one-way process.
If you were to do a side-by-side install of SQL 2008 & SQL 2016, detach the DB from 2008 and attach it to 2016 and then either something goes wrong with the DB upgrade process or in your post-upgrade checks notice something that mandates a revert back to 2008, you can't detach the DB from 2016 and attach it to 2008, you'll have to go and fetch the pre-upgrade backups (assuming those got made) and restore to 2008.
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability