Compatibility mode

  • Hi there,

    Not sure if this is the right forum, but here goes.

    The company I work for runs an ERP that, in its current version, only works on SQL 2000. There is a later release that works on SQL 2005 but for various internal reasons we cannot upgrade at this time.

    This is a problem as I want to upgrade to SQL 2005 to get all the other benefits it offers, and it is likely we will not be able to ugprade our ERP for many months. So what I would like to get a handle on is whether or not it is feasible to upgrade to SQL 2005 anyway and run our ERP database in SQL 2000 compatibility mode.

    For all intents and purposes, does a database in this mode appear as a SQL 2000 database as far as clients of the database are concerned? Has anyone done this, and are there any traps with this approach?

    Any advise or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks

    Mike Mortensen

  • This sounds like a vendor supplied application. If so, and the vendor does not support this version on SQL Server 2005 - there are no options for you other than upgrading to the version that is supported.

    If you have a test or development system (or can create a copy of your live system), you can always test this yourself - but again, if the vendor has not certified this version on SQL Server 2005 there really is nothing you can do.

    Try running the Upgrade Advisor and see what kind of issues you would have.

    Note: just setting compatibility mode will not guarantee that your existing application will run.

    Jeffrey Williams
    “We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”

    ― Charles R. Swindoll

    How to post questions to get better answers faster
    Managing Transaction Logs

  • I'd wager that most apps do run except for when they make strange modifications to system tables or have some odd naming conventions. Case in point - our software integrates with a well-known patient admin system that doesn't support sql 2005, even in 80 compatibility mode, because the software makes use of a schema called "sys". In sql 2000 this was fine, but won't work in 2005.

    You could try to run in 80 compatibility mode but if your vendor has a new version that supports 2005 chances are that their old version just doesn't work on 2005 or they haven't tested it. You could try asking them to tell you what they had to change (if anything) to make it work?

    Alternatively, you could install 2005 on another server and do daily backup/restore operations so you can still read the database using 2005 but all changes are done on the DB on the 2000 server.

  • I have no idea how many apps would run - all I know is that one of my vendors would not support the version we had on SQL Server 2005. Found out that the reason was because of some very old code in the application that needed to be updated.

    Running in compatibility mode did not make it work - so, we had to wait until we upgraded to the version that was supported.

    Jeffrey Williams
    “We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”

    ― Charles R. Swindoll

    How to post questions to get better answers faster
    Managing Transaction Logs

  • I have had problems with compatibility levels also, but just the opposite. One of our vendors told us that their product was compatible with SQL Server 2005, but when we moved to a new server with SQL Server 2005 and moved the database over, I could not set up any maintenance plans using SSMS. After further investigation, I noticed that the comaptibility level was set to 70 :crazy:. After speaking to the vendor, they informed me that I could not change the compatibility level otherwise the product would not work correctly, so I eventually set up my own maintenance scripts. I told the vendor they should not say their product is compatible with SQL Server 2005 as this was not the case. As usual they said their next release will be updated to work with SQL Server 2005. Let's hope that it's true.

  • If you set the Mode in 2000 compatability, you wont get any gain from the SQL 2005. It will be working just like any other 2000 DB.

    I have the same issue and I am stuck with a 2000 compatabilty mode till end of Jan. We rewrote our own app for a third party application that works only in 2000 mode. Rioght now it is in testing phase.

    -Roy

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