Do you want both versions of the software running on the system? If so, install 2014 and provide a named instance (which is generally considered a good practice...

I'm not completely sure I understand the set up or the question.

If you're asking how to upgrade your databases from 2008 to 2014, the best approach is to...

SQL Server within the VM is going to claim all the memory it can (as usual) and it won't release any. So it's not a surprise that you get 90%...

Add another column to your table that strips the leading zero and the trailing digit and use that for comparisons. That way you can index it and get decent performance....

By size in this case, I should have been more clear, how many objects?

If it's freezing on other databases, it's possibly Apex (don't intend to throw rocks here).

How big is the database?

I don't know Apex, but I know Redgate SQL Prompt. We sometimes have trouble when the database is very large. Same thing...

I haven't had to interview for quite a while, but prior to showing up for an interview at Company X, I'd go by their web site. What do they do?...

Speaking as a 3rd party backup tool vendor, ours sure does.

Most of the 3rd party backup tools are, to one degree or another, using native backups. So yes,...

Differences in the server settings? Differences on database settings? Differences on query plans being generated? It's so hard to say for certain without  a lot more knowledge that it's absolutely...