To meet the demands of database growth, SQL Servers are added again and again leading to wasted hardware and licenses, a lack of standards and security holes. In the third chapter of this three part eBook from SearchSQLServer.com, SQL Server MVP Hilary Cotter provides detailed instructions for performing a SQL Server consolidation to ensure that applications will offer the same or better performance, higher availability and improved functionality. A checklist to help limit downtime during the migration is also available.
The six steps outlined include:
- Design--inventory and dependency considerations
- Test environment development--factors to consider like SANs, CPUs, memory, etc
- Migration and consolidation--configuration considerations
- Test Phase--meeting expectations, having a back out plan
- Deployment to production--avoiding data loss
- Stabilize--managing performance problems
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