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SQL Server: Consolidation Tactics and Best Practices

by Tim Radney

This course will show how to effectively plan and implement a consolidation strategy, including methods of consolidating, and ways to migrate databases and instances. This course is applicable to all versions of SQL Server.

What you'll learn

There are many reasons for consolidating SQL Server but license and hardware cost reduction have always been primary drivers for organizations to consolidate. In this course, SQL Server: Consolidation Tactics and Best Practices, you'll start with general considerations for consolidation that should be thought about and completed before any planning, as well as ways that to identify consolidation candidates' recommendations for which type of servers to consider consolidating first. You'll then learn about three consolidation methods: using a large single instance, using a multiple-instance server, and using virtualization. The benefits of each consolidation method are explained as well as the risks associated with them, plus some considerations and practical experiences. Finally, you'll cover just about every option for migrating databases and servers from one location to another. By the end of this course, you'll have the skills required to plan and execute a consolidation project or an upgrade of your SQL Server environment, and you'll be well-versed in all the tactics that help reduce your SQL Server licensing requirements.

Table of contents

About the author

Tim has worked with SQL server for the past 25 years, in a variety of roles including DBA, Lead DBA, and multi-department manager, which have given him extensive experience planning and implementing large-scale environment changes and upgrades. Tim is a Data Platform MVP and has a whole collection of Microsoft and other industry certifications. His experience includes HA/DR, virtualization, SSIS, SSRS, and performance tuning, among everything else SQL Server-related. Tim is very active and passi... more

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