December 30, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Hi,
We have 32-bit SQL Server 2005 on Windows 2003 32 bit server. Now we want to Upgrade 32-bit SQL Server 2005 to 64 bit SQL Server 2005.
Could you please advice me what are the steps involved to start this upgrade? Like first Windows admin need to Upgrade the Windows server to 64 -bit, then we need to start the SQL Server upgrade to 64-bit? How exactly it works and the benifits of upgrading SQL Server to 64 bit compared to 32 bit?
many thanks
December 30, 2009 at 2:47 pm
The most obvious benefit of upgrading to 64-bit is that your server can make much better use of memory over 2-3GB. 32-bit systems with extra memory can use AWE to access over 4GB, but it can only be used for page buffers. 64-bit systems can use extra memory for procedure cache or anything else.
If at all possible, I would recommend building a new 64-bit server and installing 64-bit SQL Server and then migrate the databases. Doing this as an OS upgrade followed by a SQL Server upgrade may be possible, but it scares the heck out of me to consider doing it to a production system.
December 30, 2009 at 3:14 pm
You cannot upgrade the OS from 32-bit to 64-bit. You have to install a clean version of the OS, which means you have to re-install SQL Server also.
With that in mind - the best recommendation I have is to start with new hardware. Build a new system with x64 Windows and SQL Server - restore your databases from the latest backups you have and test it thoroughly. Once tested, plan for your migration to the new hardware.
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