2008 R2 to 2014 cluster upgrade - rollback possible?

  • I am planning upgrade of existing SQL2008R2 clusters to 2014. There are several of them and we will star with staging where full app testing will be done. 
    I understand the process well and have done it in the past with 2005-to-2008 upgrades. I first upgrade passive node, fail-over, upgrade second (now passive) node.
    My questions is: Can i fail-back to non-upgraded node as a rollback if i need to rollback? Will SQL even let me do it? will it be able to mount databases as long as compatibility modes are intact?

    Cluster is based on windows 2012 and Symantec Storage Foundation HA, but for the purpose of this conversation it behaves like standard Windows fail-over cluster.

  • No.

    will it be able to mount databases as long as compatibility modes are intact?

    Compatibility level has nothing to do with this. Compatibility level is about the query execution engine's behaviour. As soon as a database is attached to SQL 2014 it is a SQL 2014 database and will not attach/restore to lower versions.

    Take backups before you start, if you need to roll back it'll most likely be an uninstall/reinstall process.

    Gail Shaw
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
    SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

    We walk in the dark places no others will enter
    We stand on the bridge and no one may pass
  • OK thanks, this is what i was afraid of.
    i think we can do fail-over and restore from backup, might be faster.

  • deploy to a new and clean cluster. This also gives you the ability to leave the original cluster in place to rollback too if required

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    "Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉

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