Tutorial to move WSS 3.0 DBs from Windows Internal to SQL 2005 Instance

Question

I have found or have been told about a few ways to move WSS 3.0 databases from the Windows Internal Database to SQL Server 2005. As I read them, however, I find I have more questions.

Two I found (How do I move WSS 3.0 for "Windows Internal Database" to the full SQL Server 2005?, Reinstalling SharePoint to run under SQL server 2005 instead of Windows internal database) indicate a pretty scary operation. Backing up the entire site, removing WSS 3.0 from the server, reinstalling it with the Advanced option, re-setting up the information necessary in Central Operations, then restoring the site.

A third one (Migrate content databases from Windows Internal Database to an instance of SQL Server) shows how to move the content DBs but not the search DB and I'm unclear on what it doesn't go through uninstalling/reinstalling WSS 3.0.

Fortunately, my server runs on ESXi and I can clone the VM for trial runs without corrupting the current install.

The short story behind this is when my colleague installed WSS, he thought he chose the right options to make sure it would installed into SQL 2005, of which we have a licensed instance on the same server. That didn't happen. I am researching how to move it as the company has really embraced Sharepoint and are putting so much data into it I am concerned they'll reach 4gb any day now. (Lots of Quicktime movies, JPEGs, PDFs, etc.)

I'd love an answer re: whether I need to follow a tutorial that demands on the WSS uninstall/reintsall or move the DBs as in the third suggestion.

Or if anyone has done this before and used a procedure, that would be helpful too!

I am not at all opposed to migrating to a newer version of Sharepoint.

Answer 1

I recommend upgrading to SharePoint Foundation 2010 or better yet Search Server Express which is also free, but extends Foundation with more features, especially better search.

In Foundation, there is a documented procedure for moving databases from one server to another that you can apply to this case. In fact, I even found a walkthrough of someone using it to move from SQL Server Express to a Full SQL Server.

However, if you do decide to start a new Farm and move the Content Databases over, you won't lose any data that way. What you will lose is any custom configuration from Central Administration you haven't documented and any customizations that were installed if you move to an entirely new server.