[Peter Gulka]

Session Level: Advanced
Speaker: Joel Reed
Session Description: In this session, we will examine how Microsoft® SQL Server 2005 affects Blackbaud products. We will look at installation and configuration settings, explore some of the new features of Microsoft® SQL Server 2005, and discover how you can use these features with your Blackbaud solutions.

[Don Sabo]

I attended this session and when I return to work, I will write my notes in here. I learned some things in this session.

[Don Sabo]

Before I begin, let me put this disclaimer that even though I work in I.T., I am an applications programmer, not in tech support.

The big news that came from this session was that you have to be on RE 7.8 version before you can convert to SQL Server 2005 and within the next year you will have to convert to SQL Server 2005.

The new features of SQL Server 2005 are:
SQL Server 2005 is more graphical and user friendly.
Attaching a database to SQL Server 2005 converts it and this database will no longer be supported to SQL Server 2000.
To revert back to SQL 2000 you must restore from a backup made in SQL 2000.
SQL 2005 will make changes to the RE Database they way that tables access the data at the machine level.
Query Analyzer is a new feature.
The screens have changes in SQL 2005 and things that were done one way in 2000 have different ways of doing them in 2005.
SQL Server 2005 is now Case Senstitive, so be carefull with typing.
You can now view State Rights.
The full client must be installed for the BMC to function correctly. If the BMC is not on the machine where SQL Server 2005 is installed then from the installation media choose the Server components, tools, Books Online, and samples under install.
Check Knowledgebase BB245576 on how to prepare for SQL Server 2005 with BB databases.
There are 6 pages of the Powerpoint presentation in our book, if anyone wants these, then send me a PM with your name and fax number and I will fax them to you.

[SimonKoppel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don Sabo

The big news that came from this session was that you have to be on RE 7.8 version before you can convert to SQL Server 2005 and within the next year you will have to convert to SQL Server 2005.

Can you please elaborate on this, Don? Are you saying that within the next year, Blackbaud will cease to support any earlier version of RE than 7.8? And that they'll also cease to support any earlier version of SQL Server than 2005?

[DrewAllen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don Sabo

Query Analyzer is a new feature.

I've been using Query Analyzer since I started using MS SQL Server (6.5). How exactly is this a new feature?

Drew

[Don Sabo]

Drew: Check out pages 137 and 138 in your Attendee manual for screenshots. I re-read my notes and I wrote down that in SQL Server 2005 there is a new tab for query analyzer. Sorry.

Simon: I think that the speaker said that Microsoft is dropping support of SQL 2000. I did ask him about SQL 2003 and that is compatible with RE 7.
I just went to talk to my tech support people and there was no one at their desk to confirm that about SQL 2000 and its support.

[DrewAllen]

BB has the PowerPoint presentation for Microsoft® SQL Server 2005 and Blackbaud online. I don't know whether you can access it if you didn't attend the conference.

Drew

[RRBaker]

I did not attend or register for the conference - I was able to open the powerpoint. Thanks!

[SGrayCMF]

We are on REE 7.80.1122.1 in a SQL2000 environment. To upgrade to 7.81, can we remain on SQL2000, or will this require SQL2005?

Nothing in the knowledge base is clear about this. Anyone have any insight here?

[Don Sabo]

You could contact Joel Reed at Blackbaud who gave the presentation at the conference.

[Matthew]

We went round and around a bit about this with support because we were getting conflicting answers.

So I asked Shaun Sullivan, who definitively told me that you do not have to upgrade from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005 to upgrade to 7.81. 2000 is still fully supported.

[Doug Creek]

Oh, that's good... I heard it was a required upgrade... YAY, one less thing to do (when I finally decide 7.81 is stable enough to upgrade to! )