SQL Server 2016 Upgrade Advisor Preview is a standalone tool which enables the users of earlier versions of SQL Server to identify their requirement for upgrading their SQL Server database to the most recent version of SQL Server.
Microsoft states,
“SQL Server 2016 Upgrade Advisor Preview is a standalone tool that enables users of prior versions to run a set of upgrade rules against their SQL Server database to pinpoint breaking and behavior changes and deprecated features as well as providing help with the adoption of new features such as Stretch Database.”
The company states,
“By running an upgrade assessment, users can pinpoint breaking changes, behavior changes and use of deprecated features.”
In addition the tool can:
- Help automate upgrade schema and data motion
- Assess whether a schema would benefit from new features
The following are the new features in this release, as per the official blog:
- Increased number of compatibility rules
- Support of more sources and destinations.
- Possible sources: SQL Server 2005/2008/2008R2/2012/2014/2016
- Possible destinations: SQL Server 2012/2014/2016 or Microsoft Azure SQL Database
- Recommendations of usage of new features such as In-Memory OLTP, Columnstore index and Stretch Database.
It supports the following operating systems:
- Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Server 2012 R2
- .NET Framework 4.5 64-bit or above
- Windows 7 64-bit or above
You can now download SQL Server 2016 Upgrade Advisor Preview here.
