July 10, 2012 at 10:44 am
I am a developer working for a government agency of the state of Illinois. We currently have a very odd mix of technologies for creating applications, data bases, and reports for which I am very confused about potential conflicts and actual useability. Basically, We are currently still using MS SQL Server 2005 for most of our development and all of our production. Recently, my team has been given access to a newer SQL Server 2008 R2 machine primarily for Reporting Services development of Warehouse and OLTP database based reports (where actual data still resides on 2005 databases). The actual report development is being performed using a Visual Studio 2005 BIDS environment while pointed to the 2008 R2 Report Server. The real confusing part comes in because we are also using VS 2010 for application design, which is required to display the reports created with the 2005 BIDS. That, and we have requirements to also provide ad hoc reports for our power users using the SSRS Report Builder which we are currently trying to implement.
Obviously, our best solution would be upgrading all our database servers to SQL Server 2008 R2, but we would still be hampered with using VS 2010 for applications, which does not have any BIDS templates for doing reports. Or, better yet would be for us to go with the new 2012 SQL Server and Visual Studio. However, with the current budget crunch, upgrading anything beyond what we are currently stuck with will be very difficult, if not impossible for next couple of years.
So my question is, are we safe in using this mishmash of environments in the meantime? And, will it be possible of utilizing Report Builder 3.0 on the 2008 R2 server (provided we can at least get a 2008 R2 production server), accessing 2005 server data, and viewing the reports from within VS 2010 applications?
Skeptical!
"Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand." -- Martin Fowler
July 10, 2012 at 1:40 pm
Sounds like a pretty common environment to me. Almost everywhere I've worked we've had multiple versions of visual studio installed. I currently have 2008 and 2010 installed. 2008 for SSRS and SSIS development and 2010 for .NET development. They play well together side by side.
If all your report development is going to be against SSRS 2008 R2 I'd upgrade to BIDS 2008 instead of 2005.
Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
Check out these links on how to get faster and more accurate answers:
Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help
Need an Answer? Actually, No ... You Need a Question
July 10, 2012 at 1:46 pm
I'm with Jack. If most of the reports are going to be 2008 R2 based, use BIDS from 2008 R2 and develop your SSRS reports from there.
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
_______________________________________________
I have given a name to my pain...MCM SQL Server, MVP
SQL RNNR
Posting Performance Based Questions - Gail Shaw[/url]
Learn Extended Events
July 11, 2012 at 10:59 am
You shouldn't have any problem accessing databases on 2005 from 2008 R2 reports. I would recommend upgrading your reports to 2008 R2. There were lots of improvements from 2005 to 2008 R2 on the reporting side. IIRC, there is a parameter in the deployment options in 2008 R2 BIDS to set which environment you are deploying to. Although, honestly if you are just starting to move to 2008 R2, you might consider skipping it and moving directly to 2012. I'm not sure on the cost differential, but it would be worth looking into especially if you haven't invested much in work in 2008 R2. I can't tell from your post if you already own your production license of 2008 R2 yet or not.
Good luck,
MWise
Viewing 4 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply