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My team will be tasked with a Physical-to-Virtual migration of SQL Server 2000. The main requirement will be: Minimization of downtime and minimization of impact on operation.

The action plan is as follows:

  1. Create a new VM (on Hyper-V) running Windows Server 2003 + SQL Server 2000
  2. Backup the databases on existing machine (a Windows cluster, to be exact) using RedGate SQL Server Backup Pro
  3. Restore the database on the VM
  4. Turn on synchronization
  5. Schedule 1 hour downtime
  6. Stop all SQL Servers
  7. Shutdown the physical server
  8. Rename the VM, and change its IP address

Now, my questions:

  • Are steps #2 and #3 necessary?
  • Will there be problems for step #8?
  • What improvement can you suggest?

Thanks for your kind answers!

pepoluan
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    `My team will be tasked with a Physical-to-Virtual migration of SQL Server` ... as a punishment? In any event, since you're migrating it anyway, I would recommend upgrading to a version of SQL server that's actually supported. SQL Server 2000 went EoL last year, and can be upgraded in one step to at least SQL Server 2008, and possibly SQL Server 2008 R2, which is what I'd strongly recomend you do. Might want to look into upgrading the OS too... for that matter, why not just build up a new VM, on a modern OS, with a modern SQL Server version and move the database? – HopelessN00b Oct 30 '14 at 14:18
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    haha, "as a punishment". Regarding Steps 2-3, this is approach is fine. Another alternate is to use the detach/attach method which can be quicker. Detach the databases, copy the data and log files to the new server, attach the files to the new instance. – squillman Oct 30 '14 at 14:38
  • Option 2: P2V the physical server. – joeqwerty Oct 30 '14 at 14:40
  • Also, what is step 4 all about? You mean replication? – squillman Oct 30 '14 at 14:40
  • Here's a good P2V article for SQL Server, albeit it a bit old: http://www.brentozar.com/archive/2008/08/sql-p2v-what-really-killed-the-dinosaurs/ – squillman Oct 30 '14 at 14:43
  • @HopelessN00b sadly, we're still saddled with an antiquated ERP system that simply won't run on any newer SQL Server version (tried and failed, many times) T_T – pepoluan Oct 31 '14 at 06:57
  • @squillman Ack! Yeah, I meant replication. Must've gotten a brainfreeze when writing (almost literally; the past week the AC in the office has been _extremely_ cold. People are sniffling, coughing, and sneezing around me) – pepoluan Oct 31 '14 at 06:58
  • @squillman I've just read the linked article, but [this comment](http://www.brentozar.com/archive/2008/08/sql-p2v-what-really-killed-the-dinosaurs/#comment-27112) made me worried; Brent didn't recommend P2V-ing a cluster. – pepoluan Oct 31 '14 at 07:10
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    Yeah, I wasn't necessarily promoting the P2V idea. Brent Ozar has a ton of great stuff on virtualizing SQL Server. It'll be worth it to read through his posts. – squillman Oct 31 '14 at 14:52

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