Are you facing a hardware issue with your SQL Server 2000 instance? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we will walk you through the general steps to migrate your SQL Server 2000 instance to a new server. While the specific circumstances may vary, these steps will provide you with a solid foundation for a successful migration.

Preliminary Migration Steps

Before diving into the migration process, it’s important to plan and prepare. Here are some preliminary steps to consider:

1. Plan: Create a detailed plan outlining the tasks, responsibilities, timeframes, and other important information.
2. Notification: Inform the users about the issue and the expected downtime through your change management process.
3. Team: Determine the team members responsible for the migration and assign roles accordingly. Don’t forget to include application testing in your team’s responsibilities.
4. Hardware: Assess the hardware requirements for the migration and ensure the new server can handle the workload until the next downtime.
5. Review: Review the error logs of Windows, SQL Server, and applications to identify any unexpected errors that may impact the migration process.
6. Installation Media: Gather the necessary installation media, including Windows, SQL Server, third-party tools, and service packs.
7. Versions: Take note of the versions of Windows, SQL Server, and other applications to ensure you install the same versions on the new machine.
8. Test Backup: Backup a subset of the user-defined databases and restore them on another machine for testing purposes.
9. Shrink Databases: Shrink the user-defined databases to optimize the backup process.
10. Monitoring: Set up the new SQL Server ahead of time to minimize downtime during the migration process.

Migration Steps

Once you have completed the preliminary steps, you can proceed with the migration process:

1. Review: Double-check the error logs of Windows, SQL Server, and applications to ensure no unexpected errors have occurred since the initial review.
2. Read-only Mode: Set the user-defined databases to read-only mode to prevent any changes during the migration.
3. Online Database Backups: Perform online backups of the SQL Server databases and verify their integrity.
4. Shut down SQL Server: Stop the SQL Server services to prepare for the migration.
5. File System Backup: Perform a Windows file system backup to ensure data integrity.
6. Windows Configurations: Make any necessary changes to the machine name or DNS settings.
7. Old SQL Server: If required, put the original machine in a workgroup, change the machine name, IP address, and reboot.
8. New SQL Server: Configure the new machine with the appropriate machine name, domain, IP address, and reboot.
9. DNS: Validate the DNS entries to ensure they are correct.
10. Copy Process: Move the backups to the new SQL Server.
11. Database Restore: Restore the user-defined databases on the new SQL Server. If you need to move the databases to another volume, refer to the appropriate documentation.
12. Auto-generate Database Restore Scripts: Validate that the databases are not in read-only mode and generate restore scripts if necessary.
13. SQL Server Validation: Validate the following items:
    • Restores: Ensure that the databases have been restored properly without any error messages in the SQL Server Error Log.
    • Security: Verify that logins and users are mapped correctly for both Windows and SQL Server standard logins.
    • SQL Server Services: Confirm that the SQL Server services are using the correct domain account and are configured to auto-start.
    • SQL Server Jobs: Validate that the jobs have been migrated successfully and are referencing the correct SQL Server.
    • SQL Server DTS Packages: Ensure that the DTS packages have been migrated properly.
    • Connection String Changes: If the machine name has changed, update the application connection strings accordingly.
    • Testing: Test your applications to ensure they are functioning properly on the new SQL Server.

Post Migration Steps

Once the migration is complete, there are a few additional steps to consider:

1. Monitor the SQL Server: Regularly check backups, performance, SQL Server Error Logs, and gather feedback from users to ensure operational and business needs are being met.
2. Lessons Learned: Document any issues or challenges encountered during the migration process and use them as learning opportunities for future migrations.

By following these steps, you can ensure a smooth and successful migration of your SQL Server 2000 instance. Remember to plan ahead, test thoroughly, and monitor the new server to ensure everything is running smoothly.