It’s an end of a great era some may say…SQL 2005 is going End of Support. It’s like finally selling that old Dodge Durango you had since college, or throwing away that T-shirt with a whole bunch of holes in it. It’s a sad day when you finally must say goodbye. The year 2005 brought some amazing things such as YouTube, Mr. Brightside by the Killers, and The Chronicles of Narnia movie (WHAT!) What was so special about SQL 2005 was that it took Microsoft five years to come out with it. The previous edition of SQL was 2000 so it took some time to perfect the next installment of this well-known database. Now all that is coming to an end as extended support will no longer be available for SQL 2005 as of April 12, 2016.
With the End of Support, security updates and hotfixes are no longer available from Microsoft. There’s never been a better time to upgrade and benefit from the performance gains, higher availability, greater scalability, and rich BI capabilities that SQL Server 2014 and 2016 offer.
Reasons to Upgrade to 2014 or 2016
Breakthrough in-memory performance: SQL 2016 is 13x faster than 2005. That’s like challenging Usain Bolt to a game of “beat you there,” and expecting to win. Not going to happen. SQL 2005 crawls compared to what the current database can provide. Plus, SQL 2016’s additional in-memory OLTP delivers up to 30x more in performance.
High Availability: SQL 2014/2016 includes HA and disaster recovery with SQL AlwaysOn.
Security: Per the “National Institute of Standards and Technology,” SQL 2014/2016 was recognized as being the most compliant database with the least amount of security vulnerabilities for the past 6 years in a row.
Scalability: SQL 2014/2016 is scalable across computer, networking, and storage with Windows Server 2016 and has virtualization and live migration support.
Support: Since SQL 2005 will not have any support (hence this blog) there will be support if you upgrade to the latest edition. With 2014/2016 SQL Server, the support includes security patching and maintenance updates, and eliminates the expense of custom support agreements.
Another thing to consider is compliance, as it can be problematic for SQL Server 2005 just like it was when Microsoft ended support for Windows 2003. HIPAA and PCI compliance both require up-to-date patch databases, just like they do with the operating system. So, if you’re using SQL Server 2005 for anything related to HIPAA or PCI, you will be out of compliance in April.
If you’re looking to migrate from SQL 2005, the licensing has certainly changed over the past several years. SQL 2016 is the latest edition, however with backward compatibility rights, previous editions can be run like SQL 2014 and SQL 2012. SQL is offered in two editions: Standard and Enterprise (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-editions) and is sold as a Per Server/Cal or by the Core.
If you need any assistance migrating from SQL 2005, GreenPages has a team of experts who can help. Talk to your account manager or call us at 800-989-2989 and we’ll set up a time to discuss!
If you have any more questions, email us!