Bypassing SQL 2008 straight to 2011.....? Thoughts....?

  • A client of mine if looking to upgrade from SQL 2005 to sql 11 when it arrives and bypass 2008 and was looking for peoples thoughts on the idea. They're has been talk of (potential - stressing the word potential, nothing set in stone!) discounts and extensive support from MS but i'd like to hear what you guys have to say.

    I was a bit wary about it due to the fact i've always been a "wait til SP1" type of man but they'd really benefit from some of the new features available to sql 11 and if they went to 2008 R2 now, they'd look to upgrade to sql 11 in ~12mths or so to get the benefit of these features but at the additional time/cost.

    Any comments?

    _________________________________________________________________________________SQLGeordieWeb:- Jarrin ConsultancyBlog:- www.chrisjarrintaylor.co.ukTwitter:- @SQLGeordie

  • Well, I'd at least wait till it actually comes out.

    But I've never been one of the "wait for SP1" people. If I like the new features, I'll test the last few "beta versions" (which are usually RTM), and then go to the new product.

    Definitely won't put betaware in a production environment if I can avoid it, but I don't feel the need to wait for SP1.

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  • I would go for the upgrade only because some of the feature look so good.

    and the first release should be stable, and they are alreay on 2005.

    though i guess it depends on what sort of database it is and whether they would use the new features.

  • Just btw, it's not SQL Server 2011. There's been no name picked for it yet. Code name is Denali. It's been called SQL 11 because the major version number (select @@version) is 11.

    Gail Shaw
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  • If I were looking at starting an upgrade process right now, yeah, I'd jump on to Denali & skip 2008. Think of it like this, 2008 is already almost 4 years into its support cycle that, in theory, only lasts about 10 years. Might as well move to the new one. It won't be any more painful or require any more testing on your databases and applications, so, why not save that 4 years of support.

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  • thanks for the comments guys, my biggest concern is more focused towards the new features that haven't been proven yet and i can't help but worry that they may still be a bit buggy (even the RTM which incidentally is what i'd be waiting for to implement), such as the likes of multiple mirrored databases from a single primary DB - i'm bound to miss one obscure scenario that would only happen to 1 in a billion during the testing phase.

    I may just be being very sceptical but tend to err on the side of caution on something of this scale.

    Grant, valid point regarding the support, i know the company tends to go down the route of forking out for the extended support which in the case of 2008 will keep them going to 2018 iirc but if I can save them that budget then i'm sure it can only add to the Pro's of going down the SQL 11 route. But to be honest, i believe they'd upgrade again before 2008's standard support runs out.

    _________________________________________________________________________________SQLGeordieWeb:- Jarrin ConsultancyBlog:- www.chrisjarrintaylor.co.ukTwitter:- @SQLGeordie

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