SQL Server Deployment Planning ServicesUpgrading to SQL Server 2012FEBRUARY 2012

2

Guidance Deck OverviewBest practices for implementing upgrade and consolidation engagements

Three types of Upgrade/Consolidation Assessments

Target Customers: Customers ready to upgrade to SQL Server 2012

Assessment & Plan

3 day assessmentIdentify applications and databases for upgrade, assess complexity, and prioritize

Sample Upgrade

5 day assessmentArchitecture review

Choose from: Initial Upgrade & test Plan, orSample Server Upgrade

Sample Database Upgrade

10 day assessmentAdds POC, sample upgrade or consolidation, deeper architectural review of SQL Server Upgrade paths, and a detailed upgrade and/or consolidation plan

3

Assessment OutcomesDeliverables and goals by type of assessment

Goal

Identify applications and databases for upgrade, assess complexity, and

prioritize.

Architecture review and sample plan or sample server migration

Deploy sample upgrade/consolidation &

full design.

Customer Survey & Pre-Engagement Questionnaire Microsoft Assessment and

Planning Toolkit Results Review Architecture

consideration

Customer Prerequisites/Requirements

Choose one of the following:

Initial Plan for phase 1 Upgrade and Consolidation

test scenarios

Upgrade and Consolidation Test Plan

Phase 1 database upgrade/consolidation ( One

instance as proof of concept)

System Architecture for consolidation

Detailed plan for complete upgrade and/or

consolidation

4

Customer ConsiderationsGuidance points for customer assessments

The size of client organization will determine the feasibility and duration of assessment and the depth of analysis.

For large customers

3 and 5 days engagements not recommended due to complexities related to number of data sources and business logic.

Assessment should include a focus on consolidation of existing systems as well as upgrading database servers to SQL Server 2012.

For 10 day assessment

Position to address one or a few SQL Server upgrades, possibly including testing consolidation

Position assessment to include a detailed plan on achieving full upgrade of identified systems to SQL Server 2012.

5

Scope of EngagementEstablish scope of analysis and clarify with the customer

SQL Server database engine and related (SQL Server Agent, etc.)

SQL Server Analysis Services

SQL Server Reporting Services

SQL Server Integration Services

DTS Package migration

Custom Extended Stored Procedures

CLR procs needing recompile

Clarify with customer what analysis will NOT include

6

Scope of Engagement

Engagement process begins with pre-kickoff meetings and initial conversations with the customerResults of pre-engagement activities determine most appropriate resources, define high level objectives, and schedule interviewsAs engagement begins, scope and condition of satisfaction are definedExecution includes:

Documenting the existing environmentReviewing the results of the MAP toolkit Building plans on how to perform a consolidation and/or upgrade effortProof of Concept is optional in the 5 day engagement and required in the 10 day assessment

Present final findings to the customer along with clear roadmap for implementing the rest of the upgrades/consolidation to SQL Server 2012

Establish scope of analysis and clarify with the customer

7

Engagement Process ExecutionImplement assessment engagements following the project activity flow

Resources?

Reso

urc

e A

vaila

ble

If 10 Day Engagemen

t

Review Customer

survey and pre-engagement

Questionnaire

Review (or run) results of the MAP toolkit

Review Customer Pre-

requisites/ Requirements

Review Architecture

considerations for Upgrade

and Consolidation

Review System Arch

for Consolidation

/Upgrade

Produce a test plan for the upgrade/ consolidation

effort

Pre-Kickoff Meeting or

Conference call

Explain how to download and run MAP Toolkit

Give Customer the Customer

Survey

Agree on Deliverables

No Resources

Detailed Plan for complete

upgrade and/ or

consolidation

POC of Upgrade/

Consolidation (one

instance as Proof Of Concept)

Initial Plan for

Upgrade /Consolidatio

n

5 day engagements choose a path

POC of Upgrade/

Consolidation (one

instance as Proof Of Concept)

Review System Arch

for Consolidation

/Upgrade

If 5+ Day Engagemen

t

If 10 Day

*

5 or 10 days

5 days

*If 5 day customers acquire new points, they can continue with the 10 day engagement.

8

Pre-Engagement ActivitiesEngagement pre-requisites, tools, and deliverables

Conference Call

Hold a conference call or meeting to agree on the engagement scope and lengthIf conducting a 5 day engagement, determine whether it will include an upgrade plan or a POCDetermine customer needs and appropriate staffing Identity SQL Server version to upgrade to (2008 R2 or 2012)

1Survey and Toolkit

The customer should complete the Customer Survey and Pre-Engagement Questionnaire before the consultant arrives on-siteThe customer should download and run the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit before the engagement begins.

Found at the link above or http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb977556.aspx.This will require a day or two of investment full-time on the customer’s part. If not completed before the engagement begins this tool must be run during the engagement, significantly impeding progress during the engagement.

2Deliverables Agreement

Set explicit agreement with the customer on deliverables for the engagement

This should easily derive from the length of the engagement

Ensure scope is well defined so customer expectations will match the engagementIf conducting a 5 day engagement, determine whether it will include an upgrade plan or a POC

3

9

Day 1 – Kickoff

Discuss business objectives, challenges, and problems that are being targeted for resolution

Take notes of all points discussed and collect all relevant documentation available from the client.

Discuss efforts that are being done or that had been attempted to address business objectives and challenges

Review engagement process flow

Hold a kick-off meeting with the customer

10

Day 1- Pre-Engagement Questionnaire

Purpose: Gather and organize customer information and background data relevant for Upgrade and Consolidation

Use Customer documentation when available

Identify gaps where further information is required.

Survey the customer for background information

11

Day 1- Questionnaire Coverage & Follow-upKey areas covered by the pre-engagement questionnaire

Questionnaire Coverage Areas

Application Architecture: Determine the number and overall architecture of the affected applicationsInfrastructure: Number and nature of existing servers and instancesInspect appended or embedded user documentation

Post-Questionnaire Follow-up Activities

Identify high priority missing relevant and required informationAsk additional questions as neededAsk for further documentation

Identify customer statement of issues, pain points, and customer definition of success

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Day 1- Questionnaire Specifics (1)Specific information areas to assess in questionnaires

Obtain customer definitions for…

For each application, determine..

Collect user documentation for…

For each database server…

For each server…

Quality of service requirementsIdentify customer pain pointsDesired outcomesCriteria and Measurements of success

Basic descriptive informationType of application and method of connectionResponsible personnelDatabases used by the applicationDependency of database on existing SQL Server versionQuality of Service requirementsKnown issues or problems

Disaster Recovery architectureHigh Availability architectureMirroring, clustering, log shippingBackup and restore strategiesData flow architectures:ReplicationData collection and distributionPatching strategiesWARNING: Presence or absence of customer documentation gives an indication of customer readiness for upgrade and/or consolidation

Identify relevant hardware detailsUse the System Information Summary tool to export a reportAdd additional information as neededServer make and modelFailover Clustering and/or NLBHigh level health status

Identify internal storage and usageLocal drivesSSD drivesIdentify external storage and usageMount points and DrivesSANDASFree space available on each driveInclude database as well as file and filestream storage

13

Day 1- Questionnaire Specifics (2)Specific information areas to assess in questionnaires

For each SQL Server instance, identify…

For each instance, gather information on…

For each selected database, determine…

For each database, identify…

For each SQL Server Agent instance, identify…

Instance name, function, use, and workload typeEdition, version, and componentsServer configuration optionsTargeted Databases based on the version of SQL Server that upgrading from Server High Availability supportDisaster Recovery plan and strategy

General SQL Server Security StrategyService AccountsACLs and file permissionsRights and PrivilegesLoginsCredentialsSQL Agent Proxy AccountsLinked Servers

Database option settingsUses of the databaseHigh Availability supportBackup strategies (partial, filegroup, etc.)

Files, file sizes, and file growth settingsDatabase storage architecturePartitioning information

SQL Server Agent jobsJob typesMaintenance plansSQL Server Agent proxy accountsUse of SQL Server Agent extended stored procedures

For each SQL Server instance… Do the following…

Summarize Upgrade Advisor findingsAddress all blocking issuesReview Other Issues report

Install Microsoft Baseline Analyzer first (MBCA 2.0)Include results of SQL BPA

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Day 1 – The MAP Toolkit

Try to get the Customer to run the MAP Toolkit before the engagementAt least get the Customer to install it and identify personnel with sufficient security to collect server dataThe MAP toolkit works best using an account with local administrator rights to each machineFor additional data, network rights are required

Help the customer run the MAP toolkitIf customer did not run toolkit prior to your arrivalWork through the customer when running the toolkitThis activity could run into the second day if you have a large customer

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP)

MAP Toolkit Components

MAP Toolkit Setup (.exe)

Getting Started Guide (.docx)

MAP Sample Documents (.zip)

MAP Training Kit (.zip)

Readme (.htm)

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Day 1- MAP Toolkit Set-Up

Preinstall: Determine security for MAP 6.5 toolkitNeeds a domain account and passwordMust have sufficient security to collect desired information

Local administrator rights to each server forSQL Server log files Windows log files

Network rights: dependent on data being collectedSysadmin rights on each SQL Server for:

SQL Server configuration and other information

Setup automatically installs SQL Server 2008 R2 Express

The Instance named MAPS

Determine security then set-up

16

Day 1- Prepare the EnvironmentWMI, directory, and remote registry configuration

Active Directory

Group policies

WMI Considerations

Determine security for WMI data collectionRemote administration exception

Remote Registry Service

Configure

Most of the above require local administrator privileges

17

Day 1-Using the MAP Toolkit

Inventory and Assessment WizardWindows Server 2008 R2 Readiness

Determines which servers can support Windows Server 2008 R2 and suggests hardware upgrades Generates two reports: proposal Word document and Excel detailed report

Microsoft SQL Server DiscoveryIdentifies SQL Server instances and components, indicating ability to upgrade to SQL Server 2012

Use the inventory and assessment wizard

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Day 1- Inventory and Assessment Wizard Scenarios

19

Day 1- Inventory and Assessment Wizard Discovery Methods

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Day 1- MAP Sample Documents

InventoryHardwareAndSoftwareSummary-12-08-2011-15h28m17s.xlsx

InventoryResults-12-08-2011-15h28m25s.xlsx

Windows Server 2008 R2WS2008R2Proposal-12-08-2011-15h27m18s.docx

WS2008R2HardwareAssessment-12-08-2011-15h28m30s.xlsx

SQL ServerSQLMigrationProposal-12-08-2011-15h27m43s.docx

SqlMigrationDiscovery-12-08-2011-15h29m51s.xlsx

SqlServerAssessment-12-08-2011-15h29m33s.xlsx

SqlServerDatabaseDetails-12-08-2011-15h29m52s.xlsx

SQLServerProposal-12-08-2011-15h27m26s.docx

Examples to review

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Day 1- MAP Training Kit

MAP6_5_Demo_Exercises.docxStep by step user guideExercise 2.1: Windows Server 2008 R2 ReadinessExercise 4.1: Discovering SQL ServerExercise 4.2: SQL Server Migration AssessmentAppendix B: Installing the MAP Toolkit

1 Demo SQL Server database

Step-by-step guide with example databases

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Day 1- Getting Started Guide

SQL Server UsageEnable SQL Server 2012 to send log audit events to the Windows security log

Sending log audit events

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Day 2 – Architecture Considerations

Upgrade Decision Points

Upgrade Strategies

Upgrade Rollback Considerations

Consolidation Consolidation DriversSQL Server Consolidation Features/SupportConsolidation Choices/OptionsConsolidation Decision Points

Review key factors

24

Day 2- Upgrade Decision Points

5 Day Engagement ChoiceIf you are running a 5 day engagement, choose one of the following:

Create and Upgrade and Consolidation Test Plan

Run a proof of concept

Hardware SupportYou may want to upgrade your hardware at the same time you upgrade your database

Take advantage of 64-bit technology

Processors have higher core density, more memory, solid state drives

Windows SupportSQL Server 2005 runs on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP

SQL Server 2012 runs on Windows Server 2003 SP2 or later, Windows XP Pro SP2 or later

Other system software support.NET Framework 3.5 SP1 or later

Windows Installer 4.5 or later

Internet Explorer 6 SP1 or later

Application SupportMany 3rd party applications restrict which version of SQL Server they support

For each database supporting a 3rd party application, you will need to do a separate investigation of version level support for SQL Server

In some cases a client or application-side upgrade will be necessary to upgrade to SQL Server 2012

Architecture considerations

25

Day 2- Upgrade Schedule

For systems with dependencies (3rd party applications with restricted version support, for example) a longer upgrade time window may be requiredClient updates may be required if new functionality is to be usedRequired licenses must be acquired before the upgrades can proceedConsolidation considerations may significantly slow down initial upgrades

Timelines/Dependencies for Upgrade

26

Day 2- Upgrade Strategies

In-place upgradeUpgrade the existing instance in place

Will affect other instances on the same machineCommon files will be upgraded to SQL Server 2012 version

Minimizes other changes that might affect applications or users

Must use the same edition of SQL ServerCan’t upgrade from standard to enterprise, for example

Side-by-Side upgradeInstall another instance on the same machine, and then use a migration technique as described later in the presentation

Still requires a client change to point to new instance name

Use if you only wish to migrate some databases from a server

In-place versus side-by-side

27

Day 2- Upgrade Strategies (cont.)

MigrationDetach/attach

Detach your database(s), and then copy the database files and attach them to a new or existing SQL Server 2012 instance

Backup/restoreUse the latest backup from your database to restore to a new or existing SQL Server 2012 instance

Either method allows you to change editions, availability strategies, etc.

Also allows you to upgrade hardware and/or version of Windows Server

Master and MSDB considerationsIf you migrate a database at a time, externals such as logins, linked servers, SQL Server Agent jobs will need to be scripted and migrated separately

Database migration

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Day 2- Upgrade Drivers

Strategies will vary based on the upgrade strategy selected

In all cases there are risks associated:To mitigate risks of migration, make sure no data has changed since the upgrade (assuming that the original database is still in place)

If rollback is an important requirement:Back-up all your data

Plan it early into your process

Practice your rollback strategy before beginning any upgrade efforts

Designing and testing this is outside the scope of this engagement

Rollback considerations

29

Day 2- Consolidation DriversBusiness value of consolidation

Number of database apps

Number of DBAs

1990

2000 2010

Hardware

computin

g capacit

y

Reduce Cap-Ex

Upgrade & standardize to fewer hardware

Reduce space, power and thermal needs

Reduce Op-Ex

Improve Hardware Utilization Efficiency

Improve Management Efficiency

Lowered cost and complexity for High Availability

Infrastructure Agility

Load Balancing & Dynamic Provisioning

Standardization of services

Underutilized hardware

Overburdened

Administrators

30

Day 2- Consolidating database serversWhy consolidate?

Improve control

Greater responsiveness to business needs and improved compliance

Reduce cost

Reduce hardware, licensing and operational costs

Improve consistency

Standardize platform, easier integration, easier management

Realize impressive savings by consolidating on SQL Server 2012, an enterprise-class, low-cost, feature-rich, and easy-to-use data platform

Benefits of SQL Server 2012

Flexible consolidation optionsMultiple databases. Up to 32,767 databases in a single instance. Use Resource Governor to isolate workloadsMultiple instances. Enables database engine instances to co-exist on the same physical serverVirtualization: Use Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V for virtual server isolation on a single physical machine

Support for up to 256 logical cores & up to 2TB memory

On-premise or cloud-based data storage

ManageabilityPowerful management tools. SQL Server Management Studio, SQL Server Agent and Central Management ServersPolicy-based management. Define configuration policies on one instance, and apply to many instancesSimpler management and deployment with Multi-Server Management

Security & PerformanceIntegrity of consolidated database. 3-levels of application isolation, Transparent Data Encryption, Enterprise Key ManagementAlwaysOn High AvailabilityHuge data warehouse support

31

Day 2- Consolidation Decision Points

If consolidation efforts are combined with upgrade efforts, additional considerations apply

What kind of consolidation makes sense?May be different for each database (or even each schema) in your existing systems

If evaluating virtualization – Do you have the necessary Operating System Support?Hyper-V or 3rd party virtualization solution?

Details of Consolidation Architectures are examined for the 10 day engagement

Ask the right questions

32

Day 2- Client Upgrades

When upgrading your servers to SQL Server 2012, you should evaluate whether client-side updates to connectivity drivers are required

May need to upgrade your DBA workstations as wellNew version of SQL Server Management Studio

New BI Development Studio of supporting AS/IS/RS

Evaluate connectivity drivers and DBA workstations

33

Day 2- Engagement Scope ReminderDocument out-of-scope items

SQL Server database engine and related (SQL Agent, etc.)

SQL Server Analysis Services

SQL Server Reporting Services

SQL Server Integration Services

DTS Package migration

Custom Extended Stored Procedures

CLR procs needing recompile

You can’t ignore out-of-scope items if present!

Document that they are affected but out of scope

Customer can always engage you for those upgrades separately

Don’t ignore if Present

34

Day 2- Review Identified Servers

Help the customer evaluate their consolidation strategyThis may involve deciding on a virtualization strategy

The implementation of both will be out of scope for anything but the POC during the 10 day engagement

With the upgrade and consolidation points in mind:Spend the rest of the day identifying which servers from the MAP toolkit results are candidates for upgrade and consolidation

Keep connectivity and client application issues in scope

Determine which servers are upgrade/consolidation candidates

35

Day 3 – Consolidate FindingsCustomer Prerequisites and Requirements

Assure Prerequisites

Assure that the customer has satisfied prerequisites

Has provided sufficient information about current environment

Identified people responsible for major components

Made time and personnel available

1 Identify Pain Points

Identify major pain points motivating the upgrade or consolidation

Determine where upgrade or consolidation can help

Clearly define what problems upgrade or consolidation cannot solve

2Clarify Success Criteria

Define success

Get a clear statement of the customer’s view of success

Translate into clear criteria of a successful change

3

36

Day 3- Three Day Engagement Ends

Have a close-out meeting with the customer

Identify lessons learned, provide agreed upon documentation

Great time to propose further consulting engagement to help upgrade the identified servers

Final steps

37

Day 4—5 Day Engagement Scope Choice

If you are running a 10 day engagement, proceed to the next slide.

Choose to Create a Plan or Run a POC

Initial Upgrade and Consolidation Plan

+ Test Plan

Database upgrade or consolidation

1 instance as proof of concept

Proceed to Next Slide

Proceed to Slide 55

If you are running a 5 day engagement, choose one of the following:

38

Day 4 – Upgrade and/or Consolidation Example Plan and Test Plan

Example Plan

Consultant prepares the example scenario based on the MAP Toolkit results and the customer requirements

Reviews the upgrade and consolidation strategies with the client

Chooses an example scenario

Produces a plan for an example upgrade/consolidation

Begin production

of the test plan

39

Day 4- Upgrade Strategies ComparedIn-Place versus Side-by-Side

Number of involved SQL instances One only Two

Number of physical servers involved One One or more

Data file transfer Automatic Manual

SQL Server instance configuration Automatic Manual

Supporting tool SQL Server Setup Several data transfer methods

40

Day 4- Review Consolidation Strategies

Multiple Servers to Single Server

Consolidating to multiple databases on a single server

Consolidating to multiple instances of SQL Server on a single server

Consolidation to multiple virtual machines on a single server

Identify the proper scenario(s)

41

Day 4- Choosing an Example ScenarioCriteria for a good scenario choice

Choose a scenario that has well defined and limited scope

Scope should be realistic to accomplish relatively quickly

Avoid VLDBs

Avoid HA and DR scenarios

Avoid any direct interaction with business critical data

Choose a scenario that has a high chance of success

Ensure the customer understands and can define success criteria

42

Day 4- Example Scenario Requirements

Get background data and documentation

Use MAP Toolkit reports

Get customer definition of success criteria

Outline the upgrade or consolidation strategy

Steps to outline the requirements

43

Day 4- Upgrade/Consolidation PlanStrategy guide and test plan checklist

Produce a Step by Step guide for implementing the strategy

Use actual server names, account names, instance names

Identify all software versions

Address unresolved issues as well as can be done

Document all open issues

Checklist for the Test PlanIdentify projected milestones

Identify responsible parties for each step

Identify points to touch base and make decision

44

Day 4 and 5 –Develop Test Plan

Create the test plan for the upgrade/consolidation effort

Detail steps to verify a successful upgrade/consolidation

See the document “Upgrade and Consolidation Services Test Plan Template_SSDPS”

Focus on upgrade/consolidation scenario

45

Day 4 and 5- Test Plan Defined

Purpose: Specify in detail what steps will be used for testing the results

State how the customer will verify the upgrade or consolidation has met its goals

Key: Specify what the customer defines as success

Key : Establish Testing Scope and Exclusions

Identifies Test TeamsDevelopment team for unit testing

Test Team for system and integration tests

User Acceptance team and testing

For upgrade and consolidation

46

Day 4 and 5- Example Scenario Test Plan

Items to include in the Test Plan:

Build a test or staging environment.

Pre-Install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and SQL Server 2012 drivers on the target server

Execute Upgrade Advisor remotely to detect post-upgrade tasks

Test the upgrade in the test environment multiple times

When the upgrade is complete, apply any later scripts

Assure correct compatibility level

Develop test scripts to:Compare objects on source and target servers

Test permissions through impersonation

Test application connectivity and operation

Develop and test a rollback

Details to include in the plan

47

Day 5- Finish Test Plan and Documentation4 key tests: unit, system, integration, and acceptance testing

Unit Test

Specification of unit test cases and test data by the developerSelf-testing and defect fixing by the developerDeveloper self-review is followed by a peer review

Integration Test

Specify the testing of multiple systems integrated with applicationsEnsures all security and performance requirements are metPerformed by Test TeamShould involve at least two cyclesDefects logged and assigned severity

User Acceptance Test

Specify who will verify, and how, that business requirements have been metShould be performed by select subset of users

SMEs in their application areaMore technically experienced

Used for the final decision on the upgrade or consolidation

For putting the system into productionMay not be the final sign-off, which may come after a short period in production

System Test

Specify the tests for each component as a systemPurpose is to verify database functionality after upgrade or consolidationPerformed by Test TeamMay involve multiple cyclesDefects logged and assigned severity

48

Day 5- Five Day Engagement Ends

Have a close-out meeting with the customer

Identify any learnings, provide agreed upon documentation

Present the test plan

Great time to propose further consulting engagement to help upgrade the identified servers

Final steps

49

Day 6 – Database Upgrade/Consolidation

Use one SQL Server instance as a proof of concept

Select the system to upgrade/begin consolidation

Perform the database upgradeMay involve creating a virtual machine, may involve windows upgrade, hardware change

Will either be in place or a migration effort

If interested, you may evaluate rollback plans and try them out for day 6 for the selected database/instance

But don’t get too far in this unless it’s an explicitly agreed-to deliverable

May involve client side updates for connection strings

Ensure you document the upgrade process as performedRecord training tips and/or unusual work for the customer

Point out likely sticking points for future upgrades/migrations

Phase 1

50

Day 7 – System Architecture Consolidation

Review additional/detailed architecture considerations as appropriate for the customer’s chosen direction for consolidation

Complete the Architecture-Design-Virtualization document for the customer

Provide references to appropriate content for training on the choices and considerations for the selected virtualization/consolidation approach

You may need to gather/filter whitepapers and other public content for the customer

Some reference whitepapers are provided as part of this offering

Review architecture considerations and use guide documents

51

Day 7- Consolidation Options

Currently a variety of consolidation approaches exist and are utilized.

Typically, as isolation goes up, density goes down and operation cost goes up.

Tradeoffs exist between cost, isolation, and density

IT ManagedEnvironment

VirtualMachines Instances Databases Schemas

Sales_1

Marketing_1

Online_Sales

ERP_10

ERP_10

DB_1

DB_2DB_3

Consolidate_1

52

Day 7- Comparing Approaches

Security Resource Management

Density Migration

High Availability

Consolidation options have various strengths

Source : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee819082.aspx

Key

Best Better Good

53

Day 7- Detailed Consolidation Comparison

Each separate “application” or set of tables/views/stored procedures stored in a separate database in a single instance of SQL Server

Each separate “application” or set of tables/views/stored procedures stored in a separate instance of SQL Server on a single Windows Server

Each separate “application” or set of tables/views/stored procedures stored in a separate instance of SQL Server on a separate Windows Server

Each separate “application” or set of tables/views/stored procedures stored in a separate schema in a single database

Wins:Better security isolation compared to schemasNo additional licensing costs32,767 databases per instance limit

Wins:No additional licensing costs50 instances per Windows Server (25 for a failover cluster)Separate system administrators per SQL Server instanceSeparate version/service pack level per instance

Wins:Separate system administrators per SQL Server and Windows Server (complete security isolation)Separate version/service pack level for both Windows and SQL ServerNo shared memory or competing for memory with other instances of SQL Server

Wins:Single database backup backs up all applications contained within the databaseSingle admin can easily administer multiple applications/schemas No additional licensing costs

Considerations:Still require a common system administrator for all databases (sa)Shared memory/tempdb for all databasesSame patch level for all databasesMay need to update database name in the connection string/DSNs

Considerations:Windows Administrators are common for all instancesSome shared system components must remain at a common version/patch levelMay have to change connection strings to reference the new instance name

Considerations:Must license each Windows/SQL Server virtual machineMay require a higher edition of Windows to host the virtual machines on a consolidated serverWill likely have to change connection strings to reference the new instance name

Considerations:Separate backup/restore VERY difficult at bestNo easy separation of administrative rights

Comparing database, instance, and virtual machine consolidations

54

Day 7- High Availability Considerations

1. ReplicationGreat isolation for schema consolidation

2. MirroringWorks at the database level so good for database consolidation

3. Log ShippingLegacy HA technology

Works at the database level

4. Failover ClusteringWorks at the instance and/or server level

Now fully supported with Hyper-V and SQL Server

4 key considerations for high availability

55

Day 8, 9 and 10 – Final Activities

Create a detailed plan to complete the upgrade/consolidation of identified systems

Incorporate the test plan created on days 2 and 3

Incorporate learnings from the Proof of Concept (POC) upgrade

Review plan with the client

Final customer meetingUse the Closeout Meeting PowerPoint deck as a template for the meeting

Outline of final steps to complete upgrade and/or consolidation plan

56

Day 8,9,10- Create a Detailed Plan

Customer Upgrade and Consolidation Plan.docx

Three Major Parts to the documentPre-upgrade tasks

Existing Systems to be upgraded/consolidated

Post-upgrade tasks

Required plan for upgrade/consolidation

57

Day 8,9,10- Pre-Upgrade Tasks

Template identifies several sections for preparing for upgrades

Validating backups

Performing consistency checks

Resolution of known errors

Freeze Non-Upgrade related modifications

Communications

Performance baseline

Each section should be customized for the customer

Remove the documentation text before giving to the customer

Use template to create customized upgrade preparation

58

Day 8,9,10- Focus on Existing Systems

Document each system, including OS, SQL Server version, .net framework version, etc.

Document the upgrade/consolidation plan for the instance/system

Document anything unique or unusual about the system that must be taken into consideration

It will take you a couple of days to complete this document for a large number of instances

Existing systems will be majority of upgrade/consolidations for most customers

59

Day 8,9,10- Post-Upgrade Tasks

Template identifies several tasks to be performed post-upgrade

Integrating the new instance into the environment

Management Tools

Relational Database issues

Security

Full-text search

Transact-SQL queries

This is relatively standard guidance and will require very little customer-specific modification

Use template to guide post-upgrade tasks

60

Day 10 – Wrap up the Engagement

Final customer meetingUse the Closeout Meeting PowerPoint deck as a template for the meeting

Capture any outstanding work items

Review the Upgrade Test Plan document

Review the Upgrade and Consolidation Plan document

Ensure the customer is satisfied with the engagement

Review the goals from the opening day meeting and confirm all agreed upon work has been completed

Final activities