Frequently asked questions for upgrading to SQL Server 2005

Questions that are often asked:

Upgrade to SQL Server 2005

1. Can SQL Server DTS packages be used in SQL Server 2005?

2. When upgrading to SQL Server 2005, I have encountered encryption failure how can I solve it?

3. What is the best way to replicate a database for SQL Server 2005 upgrades?

4. How do I adjust SQL Server query performance after the upgrade?

5. How does a failover cluster work in SQL 2005?

6. Can I install different versions of SQL Server on the same machine?

7. Can I call an extended stored procedure in SQL Server 2005?

8. How do I create a username and password for a SQL Server database?

9. Can I run both SQL 2000 and SQL 2005 instances at the same time?

10. Can you provide examples of SQL Server 2005 upgrade issues?

11. What are the stored procedure concurrency issues that occur in SQL Server 2005?

Can the SQL Server 2005 database be ported back to SQL Server 2000?

1. Can SQL Server DTS packages be used in SQL Server 2005?

DTS is not used in SQL Server 2005, and is replaced by a new extract, transform, and load (ETL) engine called SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). SSIS provides a foundation for building ETL solutions that are more powerful, flexible, and better performance than DTS, but this may make many database administrators wonder what to do with their DTS packages.

The good news is that although they can no longer edit in SQL Server 2005, DTS packages created in SQL Server 2000 can still be run. To mitigate this transition, SQL Server 2005 provides an Upgrade wizard to help the database administrator convert the package into the SSIS framework. However, not all components can be upgraded. For example, an ActiveX conversion is a challenge for the Upgrade Wizard, and it may not be portable.

This means that the database administrator will eventually have to use SSIS to rewrite these packages, and because of the functionality that SSIS provides, this might be much simpler than using DTS.

-adam Machanic,sql Server 2005 expert