The almost 500 page Upgrade Technical Reference guide for SQL Server 2008 R2 is available at the dedicated upgrade site. This guide not only covers upgrading from versions prior to 2008, it also covers considerations (minimal) for upgrades between SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2.

If you are looking for reasons to upgrade to SQL Server 2008 R2, you can find these in the Why Upgrade Datasheet.

Following are the key topics covered:

  • Preparing for Upgrade
  • Developing Upgrade Plan
  • Post Upgrade Tasks
  • Management and Development Tools
  • Upgrading from SQL Server 2000
  • Upgrading from SQL Server 2005
  • Relational Database
  • In-Place vs Side by side upgrade
  • Performing an Upgrade
  • High Availability including Minimising downtime during the Upgrade
  • Database Security
  • Full Text Search
  • Service Broker
  • Replication
  • TSQL Queries
  • Notification Services
  • Analysis Services
  • Integration Services
  • Reporting Services
  • Other Microsoft Products and SQL Server upgrade implications e.g. Lync, Small Business Server, SharePoint, System Center, Dynamics