Beginning SharePoint® 2007 Administration: Windows® SharePoint® Services 3.0 and Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007

2.4. Upgrading SQL Server 2005 Express to MS SQL Server

Many organizations start investigating what WSS can do by installing WSS using a local SQL Server 2005 Express database. The idea is often to run a pilot project. More often than not, this pilot project then incidentally turns into a production environment, with lots of important data that cannot be discarded. I am sure you don't belong to such an organization, but you probably know somebody else who does, right? Well, you can tell your friend that it is possible to move up from the SQL Server 2005 Express database to the full MS SQL 2000 or 2005 Server, so there is no need to worry.

You have two types of possible upgrade scenarios:

• An in-place upgrade of SQL Server 2005 Express to a local MS SQL Server.

• Moving from a local SQL Server 2005 Express to a separate MS SQL Server.

The first scenario is straightforward: Simply run the setup program for MS SQL Server to upgrade SQL Server 2005 Express. The other scenario are more complicated, but not impossible. You might remember from earlier sections in this chapter that a remote SQL Server gives you better performance and also makes it possible to build a fault-tolerant MS SQL Server cluster. You will find the steps for each upgrade scenario in the following sections.

2.4.1. Preparing to Upgrade the SQL Server 2005 Express

The first and most important thing to remember is to back up your current WSS data. You are about to perform a very sensitive operation, and if something goes ...