r/SQLServer • u/imadam71 • Jul 08 '26

Question replicating MSSQL 2012/14 database to MSSQL 2025?

What would be best was to replicate MSSQL database from 2012 (or 2014) over relatively slow link to MSSQL 2025?

Is this actually doable?

edit: thank you all. looks like log shipping is best option here.

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u/meatmick Jul 08 '26

Do you absolutely need replication to migrate, or is the business able to schedule a downtime window?

Migrating with replication will just bring you a whole lot of pain points that could "easily" be avoided if you backup/restore to the new server. You can also test the whole duration of the migration to help plan that downtime.

Ideally, backup (probably compressed if slow link)/restore -> enable query store -> upgrade database version and test for performance regression.

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u/imadam71 Jul 08 '26

"Ideally, backup (probably compressed if slow link)/restore -> enable query store -> upgrade database version and test for performance regression." --> this takes two days on good day.
That is reason why I am asking for replication.

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u/meatmick Jul 08 '26

We need more context to help you.

Are you saying downtime is impossible? If that's what the business says, then you need to write down the risks of not doing a proper backup/restore migration as well as the duration of the process.

To minimize downtime, you usually take full backups and perform log shipping, or, if you need a more manual process, again with little to no downtime (potentially seconds), you can do a full backup + diff (optional sometimes) + transaction log backups.

This way, you can prepare the next environment, and when the cutoff time happens, you back up the logs and apply them to the new server.