Chapter 1: Installing or Upgrading to the SQL Server 2008 Database Engine

	Excerpt from Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Management and Administration. Each month Microsoft Subnet gives away 15 copies of a best selling book. This title is the January, 2009, selection. Click here for entry details.
Published by Sams ISBN-10: 0-672-33044-X ISBN-13: 978-0-672-33044-5

SQL Server 2008 Database Engine Services, formerly referred to as “The Database Engine,” is the nucleus of SQL Server 2008. Its features are nothing short of impressive. Many organizations today run complex data applications that command the use of a feature like SQL Server’s Database Engine that can process, store, and secure data. From a transactional perspective, it is used to store, process, and secure data for the most demanding data-consuming applications within your enterprise. Moreover, the Database Engine offers many other benefits and advantages for organizations. It controls authorization to SQL Server objects, provides high-availability functionality, and includes subfeatures such as Replication and Full-Text Search.

This chapter describes the step-by-step process for installing a clean version of SQL Server 2008 Database Engine and/or upgrading an existing SQL Server Database Engine implementation to SQL Server 2008. In addition, this chapter covers how to leverage the planning tools to ensure a successful installation, upgrade, or transition.

Even though the SQL Server 2008 installation process is very intuitive and has been simplified, a DBA must make several key decisions to ensure that the completed installation or upgrade will meet the needs of the organization. For example, is it beneficial to upgrade an existing SQL Server implementation to SQL Server 2008, or is it preferred to conduct a clean install from scratch? What are the ramifications of these alternatives? Will you lose your existing SQL Server settings, databases, and configurations? This chapter covers these prerequisite planning tasks to address the questions and concerns of DBAs.

In addition, this chapter also covers the hardware and software prerequisites, supported SQL Server 2008 upgrade paths, supported Windows operating systems for running SQL Server 2008, and benefits of running SQL Server 2008 on the highly anticipated Windows Server 2008 family of operating systems.

What’s New for Installation with SQL Server 2008?

SQL Server continues to deliver a robust experience when installing or upgrading to SQL Server 2008. Moreover, SQL Server 2008 introduces significant enhancements to make the installation or upgrade process even more simple and seamless compared to its predecessors. The new installation features for SQL Server 2008 consist of the following:

• A new SQL Server 2008 Installation Center landing page, which includes a tremendous number of options for planning, installing, and maintaining a SQL Server implementation. The Installation Center is also a one-stop shop for planning and reviewing SQL Server documentation before getting started.

• A new planning tool known as the System Configuration Checker, which checks for conditions that could impede a SQL Server installation prior to the actual installation.

• Another great planning tool is the newly refined Install Upgrade Advisor. The Install Upgrade Advisor tool allows a DBA to fully analyze existing SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2000 installations for issues that may surface when upgrading to SQL Server 2008. By fixing these issues before conducting the upgrade, an organization will have a smoother experience when transitioning to SQL Server 2008.

• New maintenance tasks have been introduced in the installation process, which allow DBAs to either repair a corrupt SQL Server 2008 installation or conduct a Feature Upgrade. The Feature Upgrade tool is a wizard that allows organizations to upgrade or change their existing edition of SQL Server 2008 after the initial installation or upgrade is complete.

• A discovery report that will provide a detailed report of all SQL Server 2000, 2005, and 2008 components, features, and settings associated with an installation.

• The potential to automate SQL Server installations by using an existing configuration file.

• An Advanced Cluster Preparation tool, which streamlines and prepares a SQL Server 2008 failover cluster installation—which is typically deemed a very difficult task in the industry.

• A tool that will allow for a smooth transition of packages by automatically upgrading them from SQL Server 2005 to the SQL Server 2008 Integration Services format.

Deprecated SQL Server 2008 Database Engine Elements

Not only is it essential to understand the new features and functionality associated with the Database Engine, but it is equally important to understand older elements that have been deprecated in SQL Server 2008. Let’s examine the list of deprecated elements that are no longer supported or associated with the Database Engine.

• The DUMP statement associated with backups has been deprecated and replaced with BACKUP.

• The LOAD statement associated with restores has been replaced with RESTORE.

• BACKUP LOG WITH NO_LOG and BACKUP LOG WITH TRUNCATE_ONLY are no longer available as the transaction log is automatically truncated with the database using the Simple recovery model.

• The sp_addalias procedure has been removed.

• SQL Server 60, 65, and 70 compatibility levels are no longer supported. Databases must at least maintain a compatibility level of 80.

• The sp_addgroup, sp_dropgroup, and sp_helpgroup stored procedures have been replaced with roles.

• Sample databases such as Northwind, Pubs, and AdventureWorks are no longer included as optional installation features with the installation program. If you want to use the sample databases, they are offered as out-of-band downloads from Microsoft’s samples website.

• The Surface Area Configuration (SAC) tool has been replaced with Policy Based Management.

• Remote servers have been replaced with Linked servers.

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Note

The preceding bullets itemize the main features deprecated with the Database Engine. However, for a full list of each item, review the topic “Deprecated Database Engine Features and Discontinued Database Engine Functionality in SQL Server 2008” in SQL Server Books Online (BOL).

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Preplanning and Preparing a SQL Server 2008 Server Database Engine Installation

Before you begin the actual installation of SQL Server 2008 Database Engine, you must make several decisions concerning preliminary tasks. How well you plan these steps will determine how successful your installation is—as many of these decisions cannot be changed after the installation is complete.

Verifying Minimum Hardware Requirements

Whether you are installing SQL Server 2008 in a lab or production environment, you need to ensure that the hardware chosen meets the minimum system requirements. In most situations, the minimum hardware requirements presented will not suffice; therefore, Table 1.1 provides not only the minimum requirements, but also the recommended and optimal system requirements for the hardware components.

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Note

This book is tailored toward the Standard and Enterprise Editions. As such, the minimum hardware and software requirements documented in Table 1.1 and Table 1.2 of this chapter only cover “core editions” of SQL Server 2008, also known as Standard and Enterprise Editions. To review the hardware and software requirements for the “specialized editions,” refer to the section on “Hardware and Software Requirements for Installing SQL Server 2008” in SQL Server 2008 Books Online (BOL).

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Table 1.1  SQL Server 2008 Processor and Memory System Requirements

The minimum disk space requirements differ depending on which SQL Server 2008 feature will be installed. Table 1.2 depicts these minimum disk space specifications itemized by feature.

Table 1.2  SQL Server 2008 Minimum Disk Requirements

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Note

When designing and selecting the system specifications for a SQL Server implementation, even the optimal system requirements recommendations from Microsoft might not suffice. It is a best practice to assess the server specifications of the planned server role while taking the load during the time of deployment and future growth into consideration. For example, a SQL Server 2008 system running 50 instances of the Database Engine will require much more than the recommended specification of 2GB of RAM to run adequately. In addition, SQL Server 2008 running on a Windows 2008 server that is providing business intelligence solutions for 10,000 users might require 32GB of RAM. Therefore, size the system accordingly and test the load before going live into production.

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