Support for Microsoft’s SQL Server 2005 comes to an end next month. Find out what it means for you.
Microsoft have announced that they’ll stop supporting SQL Server 2005 from April 12 this year.
If you’re running that software – which was first released more than a decade ago – that means it’s time to upgrade. The consequences of not upgrading could be at best risky, and at worst severe.
The news means that Microsoft will no longer provide security updates for SQL Server 2005, so continuing to use it will put your systems at risk.
Where next?
The good news is that Microsoft has worked hard to develop SQL Server in the intervening decade. There’s a clear upgrade path to SQL Server 2014.
It also offers an opportunity to think about the rest of your infrastructure. Windows Server 2003 is also reaching its ‘end of life’, so if your server is using both then it’s probably time to modernise the lot.
Microsoft provides an assessment and planning toolkit to help you think about migrating your infrastructure and data to more modern software.
You can even get a free trial of SQL Server 2014 to see the difference for yourself.
Show-stopping performance
Upgrading is a no-brainer when you compare the performance of SQL Server 2014 against 2005.
In tests, SQL Server 2014 is 13 times faster than SQL Server 2005, and that’s before the additional performance gains that come from from modern features like in-line in-memory processing.
SQL Server Management Studio also gives you powerful tools to start making the transition from on-premise to the cloud, if that is a viable route for your business.
Microsoft have created a special page for people who want to make the switch. At CompanyNet, we’d also be happy to discuss your needs around upgrading to a more modern solution – just drop us a line.