SQL Server Upgrade Recommendations and Best Practices Part 1: Upgrade Overview and Project Planning

Upgrade Project Phases¹

ID

Phase

Description

1

Requirements Analysis

• Setup a comprehensive Project Plan with tasks granular enough to assign to a single individual on the project
  
  
• Hold a Kick-Off Meeting to properly start the project
  
  
• Determine Upgrade Date and Time with the associated Downtime
  
  
• Determine the Upgrade Freeze and Thaw Dates for Testing Purposes
  
  
• Setup Roles and Responsibilities in order to establish Project Accountability
  
  
• Submit a Change Management Request to notify key players in the corporation
  
  
• Determine SQL Server Hardware Needs via Capacity Planning (disks, memory, processors, etc.)
  
  
• Sign-Off – Requirements Analysis

2

Design and Development

• Build an Upgrade Checklist to determine time frames and proposed processes to complete the Upgrade
  
  
• Test the Upgrade Checklist and verify the results
  
  
• Communicate the process to the team especially in terms of configurations
  
  
• Sign-Off – Upgrade Methodology

3

Functional, Integration, End User and Load Testing

• Setup a Test Environment to include the necessary SQL, Middle Tier and Web Servers as well as a Client PC; these machines should be configured as closely as possible to the Production Environment to ensure project success
  
  
• Implement a Load Testing Tool
  
  
• Build Test Plans for Functional, Integration, End User and Load Testing
  
  
• Complete Functional, Integration, End User and Load Testing
  
  
• Manage the Testing Exceptions until Completion for the Upgrade
  
  
• Determine if Front End or T-SQL code must be applied prior to or following the upgrade in order to determine the code roll-out coordination
  
  
• Update previously submitted Change Management request based on Testing results
  
  
• Sign-Off – Testing

4

Production Hardware Setup

• Server Assembly as well as Windows and SQL Server 2000 Installation
  
  
• Configure, setup and burn-in the new hardware
  
  
• Sign-Off – Production Hardware

5

Upgrade

• GO | NO GO Meeting
  
  
• Execute the Upgrade Checklist
  
  
• Sign-Off SQL Server 2000 Upgrade
  
  
• Monitor SQL Server Performance
  
  
• Sign-Off – SQL Server 2000 Upgrade