Migrating from SQL Server 2008, 2008 R2

SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 reach the end of Extended support in July 2019, and organizations should be planning migration now to mitigate future security risks or extend the life of existing deployments with new support options. For most organizations, robust backward-compatibility features and migration tools enable a range of migration options and destinations, including moving existing databases to newer SQL Server versions on Windows or Linux, complete database upgrades, and Azure SQL-based services. However, SQL Server installations typically include many components, such as SQL Server services, disaster recovery, management tools, and applications, that are likely to complicate migrations.

This report covers the migration and upgrade options for SQL Server relational databases and database server instances. SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 also contain many other components and dependencies not discussed here that may influence the migration plan and add to the complexity, including the following: