May 2013 – Monthly SQL Server Checklist

by Jason S, posted in Database Administration, SQL Server, SQLServerSyndication

data centerIt’s the start of the month of May, or at least the first Monday in May.  Hopefully you aren’t nursing too much pain from a weekend that included two fairly dissimilar holidays.  First, there was Star Wars Day on Saturday.  Followed by Cinco de Mayo on Sunday.  There should have been something in there for everyone that reads this to celebrate, just a little bit.

As I write these friendly reminders to check your SQL Server environments from month to month, have you ever wondered what the difference a month can really make?  What’s that different this month over last month.

Well one thing that changed since last month is the number of supported versions of SQL Server in the world.  As of April 9th, 2013, extended support for SQL Server 2000 has expired.  What this means for anyone still running SQL Server 2000 is you’ll no longer be able to rely on Microsoft for support of the platform.  The piece that will affect most still using SQL Server 2000 is the slow decline in online resources for SQL Server 2000.  Knowledge Base and Books On Line are still available, but in the next 12 months those resources will be gone.

Oh… my… gawd… panic about SQL Server 2000, if you are still running it, right?  No, not exactly.  If you are still running SQL Server 2000, you should approach the business owners for those databases and explain that support has ended and the risks associated with this change.  If you have a stable, no longer developed, platform that is using SQL Server 2000, does it really need a shiny upgrade?  Would an upgrade increase or decrease the stability risk to the platform.  On the other hand, if you have a application that is still under development or has numerous issues with stability, these are great candidates for upgrades.

Regardless of the version of SQL Server you are running, remember things change from month to month and you need to watch for these changes.  One great way to achieve this is through a monthly checklist.  If you don’t have your own, check out the SQL Server Monthly Checklist that I provide on this blog. It covers most everything that should be checked. If you see anything missing from that list, please leave a comment on this post.  And if there are good resources out there that should be included on the list – share those as well.

Checklist Updates

There are just a couple changes to the checklist since last month, these updates include:

If you have time to take a look at it, the SQL Server 2012 Product Guide to see how you can use SQL Server in your environment.

SOMETHING MISSING?

Is there something missing in this checklist or with the pages that has been overlooked?  Any cool links that would aid in the review of your SQL Server environments?  If so, leave a comment below and I’ll take a look.