Migration of SQL 2008 R2 express to 2012 Standard

[hobensovbr]

Hi Guy's,

Just after some advice if possible.

I have Veeam Backup & Replication version 7 installed on Windows Server 2012.
The SQL database version is 2008 R2 Express.
The problem with this is most of the databases I would like to restore are over the 10GB limit, therefore won't work under express.

I would like to upgrade to SQL 2012 Standard.
What would be the best course of action:

In place upgrade.
Install new instance on the same server and copy the Veeam DB.
Install new Instance on another server and copy the Veeam DB.

Also are there any caveats I should be aware of?

Thanks for your help.

Ben

[Vitaliy S.]

Hi Ben,

Not sure I fully understand the correlation between SQL Server used by Veeam backup server and databases you want to restore. Can you please clarify?

Thanks!

[hobensovbr]

Hi,

Thanks for getting back to me.

When I try to restore a SharePoint Item for example I get the following error when it tries to mount the database:
"CREATE DATABASE or ALTER DATABASE failed because the resulting cumulative database size would exceed your licensed limit of 1024MB per database"

When I checked this error on the Veeam KB website I found this article:
http://www.veeam.com/kb1769

Cause:
Apparently, provided SQL server might be Express Edition as a result you may face with known limitation of the SQL Server:
SQL Server 2005/2008 Express Edition – maximum database size 4 GiB;
SQL Server 2008 R2/2012 Express Edition – maximum database size 10 GiB;

Solution:
Specify SQL Server Full Edition in the options of Veeam Explorer for SharePoint.

This cause fits my problem exactly because Veeam Backup is running on a SQL Server 2008 R2/2012 Express Edition.
With this in mind I just wanted to confirm the upgrade process from a Veeam point of view.

I hope this explains my problem in a bit more detail.

Regards,
Ben

[Vitaliy S.]

Hi Ben,

Ok, now it makes sense. To address this issue you do not need to upgrade Veeam SQL database to the full edition. You can just use any standalone existing SQL Server to mount SharePoint database. As regards the SQL Server upgrade procedure, then in-place upgrade seems like the easiest option for me.

Thanks!

[foggy]

Be sure to backup Veeam B&R configuration prior upgrading SQL Server, if you decide to go this way. Just to be on the safe side.

[hobensovbr]

Ok Thanks for the advice.
My preference would be to keep it all on the local server.

I did the config backup and went ahead with the in place upgrade from 2008R2 Express to 2012 Standard.
Just followed the upgrade wizard in the install and it worked like a charm.

Now the database mounts as expected.

Many thanks for your help.

Regards,
Ben

[albertwt]

Hi Veeam team,

Can you please share me the steps to perform VBR database migration from the build-in SQL Server Express 2008 R2 into SQL Server 2012 Standard Edition ?

Is there any information or settings that is lost or any other caveats that I need to know beforehand ?

[foggy]

Albert, just perform Veeam B&R configuration backup first and then an in-place upgrade of the SQL Server. Thanks.