On Tuesday, July 9, 2019, extended support for SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 ended. In this post I am looking back at SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2.
I’ll briefly cover what the end of extended support means before we look back at what these versions introduced. Because I am fully aware this is a popular topic this week.
What does the end of extended support mean? Well, if you still have SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2 in use on-site you will no longer receive patches or security updates.
In addition, it means that if you run either of these and don’t do anything about it Microsoft will not accept any support calls.
However, there are workarounds for the end of extended support. You can read the best post I have seen about your options in detail here.
Now, the third option in that post about purchasing an Extended Security Updates option might be new to some of you.
However, be warned that this option can get very expensive very fast if you have a lot of servers. Ideally, you should migrate these servers to Azure or upgrade them asap.
Looking back
SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 introduced some significant new features to SQL Server. Some of which I am certainly very grateful for.
Filtered Indexes
For instance, SQL Server 2008 introduce filtered indexes. Something which I have used a lot over the years to improve the performance of queries.
In reality, there are sometimes issues when you use filtered indexes. Some of which I posted about and you can read in detail here.
Automatic Page Repair
Another feature which was introduced in SQL Server 2008 is automatic page repair for mirroring.
Which truly helped reduce corruption issues. Because it introduced a mechanism to automatically repair corrupt database pages by getting the pages recovered from a secondary database.
To clarify, this is the same automatic page repair functionality which is used for Always On Availability Groups. You can read more about this in detail here.
Extended Events
In addition, SQL Server 2008 saw the introduction of Extended Events. Something a lot of people use extensively these days.
Of course, back when it was first released it had less functionality was a bit harder to use. However, due to advances to both functionality and GUI it’s become a powerful tool.
Of course, these are just some of the things that were introduced with these versions of SQL Server. In fact, there were others such as Master Data Services.
Final word
Looking back at SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2, I think we should be grateful. Because of the features these two versions of SQL brought us
Instead of looking at them in a negative light we need to realise that the features they introduced enabled us to use SQL Server the way we do today.
Especially since SQL Server 2019 will soon be available and that contains some very significant new features.
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