SQL 7 & Server 2003

[Neil]

Has anyone heard of any problems running SQL 7 under Windows Server 2003?
We're upgrading to 2003 and are wondering if we can keep SQL 7 with the new
OS.

Question 2: If we upgrade SQL to SQL 2005, can I run our database in SQL 7
mode? Or would it be better to just convert it to SQL 2005?

Thanks!

Neil

[Erland Sommarskog]

Neil (no****@nospam. net) writes:

Has anyone heard of any problems running SQL 7 under Windows Server
2003? We're upgrading to 2003 and are wondering if we can keep SQL 7
with the new OS.

For SQL 2000 to be supported on Win 2003, SP3 of SQL 2000 is required that
much I know. From that my conclusion is that running SQL 7 on Win 2000 is
not supported. That does not preclude that it will not work, only that
when it stops working, PSS is not going to help you out. But I like to
stress that is my guess.

Question 2: If we upgrade SQL to SQL 2005, can I run our database in SQL 7
mode? Or would it be better to just convert it to SQL 2005?

You can run your database on compatibility mode 70, but this is not really
the same as running on SQL 7. Compatibility mode is mainly an issue of
syntax. For instance, if you use old-style outer join *=, this works in
level 70 and 80, but they are rejected in level 90 on SQL 2000. But the
optimizer is the same no matter the compatibility level, so you still need
to test that your application works as expected.

From this follows, that unless that you have a huge legacy in old-style
outer join that would be tremendous task to test, it's better to move to
SQL 2005 in compatlevel 90, and test that scenario.

Of course, if you have a third-party application, you need to check with
your vendor what they support.
--
Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, es****@sommarsk og.se

Books Online for SQL Server 2005 at
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro...ads/books.mspx
Books Online for SQL Server 2000 at
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinf...ons/books.mspx

[Neil]

Thanks for the helpful note, Erland. Yeah, all my outer joins are just
"outer join" syntax. So I guess if that's the main issue, and the rest are
just a question of testing and tweaking, then it probably would be best to
move to 2005. Thanks,

Neil
"Erland Sommarskog" <es****@sommars kog.sewrote in message
news:Xn******** **************@ 127.0.0.1...

Neil (no****@nospam. net) writes:

>Has anyone heard of any problems running SQL 7 under Windows Server
2003? We're upgrading to 2003 and are wondering if we can keep SQL 7
with the new OS.

For SQL 2000 to be supported on Win 2003, SP3 of SQL 2000 is required that
much I know. From that my conclusion is that running SQL 7 on Win 2000 is
not supported. That does not preclude that it will not work, only that
when it stops working, PSS is not going to help you out. But I like to
stress that is my guess.

>Question 2: If we upgrade SQL to SQL 2005, can I run our database in SQL
7
mode? Or would it be better to just convert it to SQL 2005?

You can run your database on compatibility mode 70, but this is not really
the same as running on SQL 7. Compatibility mode is mainly an issue of
syntax. For instance, if you use old-style outer join *=, this works in
level 70 and 80, but they are rejected in level 90 on SQL 2000. But the
optimizer is the same no matter the compatibility level, so you still need
to test that your application works as expected.

From this follows, that unless that you have a huge legacy in old-style
outer join that would be tremendous task to test, it's better to move to
SQL 2005 in compatlevel 90, and test that scenario.

Of course, if you have a third-party application, you need to check with
your vendor what they support.
--
Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, es****@sommarsk og.se

Books Online for SQL Server 2005 at
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro...ads/books.mspx
Books Online for SQL Server 2000 at
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinf...ons/books.mspx