How to Upgrade to SQL Server 2016 from Earlier and Older Versions
SQL Server 2016 comes with multiple components. Upgrade considerations for each one of them is different. Before upgrading, ensure that the features are still supported and not deprecated. In this post, I am consolidating a list and talk about how to upgrade to SQL Server 2016 from earlier and older versions.
The first steps before upgrading is to check for the various factors that could affect your upgrade plans. Once that is validated, run the “Upgrade Advisor” to check for any existing issues in the code that might cause compatibility issues. You can download the “Upgrade Advisor” and run a set of upgrade rules against your existing installation.
The SQL Server 2016 Upgrade Advisor is not a part of the SQL Server Setup.
- The Upgrade advisor checks the following:
- Existing code that might break in SQL 2016.
- Any deprecated features that is still in use on the older environment.
- Help adopt newer features like stretch databases, In-memory OLTP, Azure SQL migration etc. by giving recommendations.
Once you run the tests on the target servers, you will be able to see and resolve existing compatibility issues with your databases.
Check and Compare SQL Server Version Comparison from the Table Below
| Feature | Enterprise | Standard | Web | Express with Advanced Services | Express with Tools | Express | Developer | Sub-Feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum compute capacity used by a single instance - SQL Server Database Engine1 | Operating system maximum | Limited to lesser of 4 sockets or 24 cores | Limited to lesser of 4 sockets or 16 cores | Limited to lesser of 1 socket or 4 cores | Limited to lesser of 1 socket or 4 cores | Limited to lesser of 1 socket or 4 cores | Operating system maximum | Cross-Box Scale Limits |
| Maximum compute capacity used by a single instance - Analysis Services or Reporting Services | Operating system maximum | Limited to lesser of 4 sockets or 24 cores | Limited to lesser of 4 sockets or 16 cores | Limited to lesser of 1 socket or 4 cores | Limited to lesser of 1 socket or 4 cores | Limited to lesser of 1 socket or 4 cores | Operating system maximum | Cross-Box Scale Limits |
| Maximum memory utilized per instance of SQL Server Database Engine | Operating System Maximum | 128 GB | 64 GB | 1 GB | 1 GB | 1 GB | Operating System Maximum | Cross-Box Scale Limits |
| Maximum memory utilized per instance of Analysis Services | Operating System Maximum | Tabular: 16 GB | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Operating System Maximum | Cross-Box Scale Limits |
| Cross-Box Scale Limits | ||||||||
| MOLAP: 64 GB | Cross-Box Scale Limits | |||||||
| Maximum memory utilized per instance of Reporting Services | Operating System Maximum | 64 GB | 64 GB | 4 GB | N/A | N/A | Operating System Maximum | Cross-Box Scale Limits |
| Maximum relational database size | 524 PB | 524 PB | 524 PB | 10 GB | 10 GB | 10 GB | 524 PB | Cross-Box Scale Limits |
| Server core support 1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | RDBMS High Availability |
| Log shipping | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | RDBMS High Availability |
| Database mirroring | Yes | Yes | Witness only | Witness only | Witness only | Witness only | Yes | RDBMS High Availability |
| RDBMS High Availability | ||||||||
| Full safety only | RDBMS High Availability | |||||||
| Backup compression | Yes | Yes | Yes | RDBMS High Availability | ||||
| Database snapshot | Yes | Yes | RDBMS High Availability | |||||
| Always On failover cluster instances | Yes | Yes | Yes | RDBMS High Availability | ||||
| RDBMS High Availability | ||||||||
| Number of nodes is the operating system maximum | Support for 2 nodes | Number of nodes is the operating system maximum | RDBMS High Availability | |||||
| Always On availability groups | Yes | Yes | RDBMS High Availability | |||||
| RDBMS High Availability | ||||||||
| Up to 8 secondary replicas, including 2 synchronous secondary replicas | RDBMS High Availability | |||||||
| Basic availability groups | Yes | RDBMS High Availability | ||||||
| RDBMS High Availability | ||||||||
| Support for 2 nodes | RDBMS High Availability | |||||||
| Connection director | Yes | Yes | RDBMS High Availability | |||||
| Online page and file restore | Yes | Yes | RDBMS High Availability | |||||
| Online indexing | Yes | Yes | RDBMS High Availability | |||||
| Online schema change | Yes | Yes | RDBMS High Availability | |||||
| Fast recovery | Yes | Yes | RDBMS High Availability | |||||
| Mirrored backups | Yes | Yes | RDBMS High Availability | |||||
| Hot add memory and CPU | Yes | Yes | RDBMS High Availability | |||||
| Database recovery advisor | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | RDBMS High Availability |
| Encrypted backup | Yes | Yes | Yes | RDBMS High Availability | ||||
| Smart backup | Yes | Yes | Yes | RDBMS High Availability | ||||
| Operational analytics | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Scalability and Performance | |||||
| In-Memory Column Store | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Scalability and Performance | |||||
| Stretch Database | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Scalability and Performance |
| Persistent Main Memory | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Scalability and Performance |
| Multi-instance support | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | RDBMS Scalability and Performance |
| Table and index partitioning | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Scalability and Performance | |||||
| Data compression | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Scalability and Performance | |||||
| Resource Governor | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Scalability and Performance | |||||
| Partition Table Parallelism | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Scalability and Performance | |||||
| Multiple Filestream containers | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Scalability and Performance | |||||
| NUMA Aware and Large Page Memory and Buffer Array Allocation | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Scalability and Performance | |||||
| Buffer Pool Extension | Yes | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Scalability and Performance | ||||
| IO Resource Governance | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Scalability and Performance | |||||
| In Memory OLTP | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Scalability and Performance | |||||
| Delayed Durability | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Scalability and Performance |
| Row-level security | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | RDBMS Security | |||
| Always Encrypted | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Security | |||||
| Dynamic data masking | Yes | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Security | ||||
| Basic auditing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Security |
| Fine grained auditing | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Security | |||||
| Transparent database encryption | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Security | |||||
| Extensible key management | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Security | |||||
| User-defined roles | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Security |
| Contained databases | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Security |
| Encryption for backups | Yes | Yes | Yes | RDBMS Security | ||||
| Heterogeneous subscribers | Yes | Yes | Yes | Replication | ||||
| Merge replication | Yes | Yes | Yes (Subscriber only) | Yes (Subscriber only) | Yes (Subscriber only) | Yes (Subscriber only) | Yes | Replication |
| Oracle publishing | Yes | Yes | Replication | |||||
| Peer to peer transactional replication | Yes | Yes | Replication | |||||
| Snapshot replication | Yes | Yes | Yes (Subscriber only) | Yes (Subscriber only) | Yes (Subscriber only) | Yes (Subscriber only) | Yes | Replication |
| SQL Server change tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Replication |
| Transactional replication | Yes | Yes | Yes (Subscriber only) | Yes (Subscriber only) | Yes (Subscriber only) | Yes (Subscriber only) | Yes | Replication |
| Transactional replication to Azure | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Replication | |||
| Transactional replication updateable subscription | Yes | Yes | Replication | |||||
| SQL Management Objects (SMO) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Management Tools |
| SQL Configuration Manager | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Management Tools |
| SQL CMD (Command Prompt tool) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Management Tools |
| SQL Server Management Studio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Management Tools | |
| Distributed Replay - Admin Tool | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Management Tools | |
| Distribute Replay - Client | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Management Tools | |||
| Distributed Replay - Controller | Yes (Up to 16 clients) | Yes (1 client) | Yes (1 client) | Yes (1 client) | Management Tools | |||
| SQL Profiler | Yes | Yes | No 1 | No 1 | No 1 | No 1 | Yes | Management Tools |
| SQL Server Agent | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Management Tools | |||
| Microsoft System Center Operations Manager Management Pack | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Management Tools | |||
| Database Tuning Advisor (DTA) | Yes | Yes 2 | Yes 2 | Yes | Management Tools | |||
| Deploy a SQL Server Database to a Windows Azure VM Wizard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Management Tools |
| SQL Server Data Files in Windows Azure | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Management Tools |
| User instances | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Manageability | |||
| LocalDB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Manageability | ||||
| Dedicated admin connection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes with trace flag | Yes with trace flag | Yes with trace flag | Yes | Manageability |
| PowerShell scripting support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Manageability |
| SysPrep support 1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Manageability |
| Support for data-tier application component operations - extract, deploy, upgrade, delete | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Manageability |
| Policy automation (check on schedule and change) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Manageability | |||
| Performance data collector | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Manageability | |||
| Able to enroll as a managed instance in multi-instance management | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Manageability | |||
| Standard performance reports | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Manageability | |||
| Plan guides and plan freezing for plan guides | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Manageability | |||
| Direct query of indexed views (using NOEXPAND hint) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Manageability | |||
| Automatic indexed views maintenance | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Manageability | |||
| Distributed partitioned views | Yes | Partial. Distributed partitioned views are not updatable | Partial. Distributed partitioned views are not updatable | Partial. Distributed partitioned views are not updatable | Partial. Distributed partitioned views are not updatable | Partial. Distributed partitioned views are not updatable | Yes | Manageability |
| Parallel indexed operations | Yes | Yes | Manageability | |||||
| Automatic use of indexed view by query optimizer | Yes | Yes | Manageability | |||||
| Parallel consistency check | Yes | Manageability | ||||||
| SQL Server Utility Control Point | Yes | Yes | Manageability | |||||
| Contained databases | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Manageability |
| Buffer pool extension | Yes | Yes | Yes | Manageability | ||||
| Microsoft Visual Studio integration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Development Tools |
| Intellisense (Transact-SQL and MDX) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Development Tools |
| SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Development Tools | ||
| SQL query edit and design tools | Yes | Yes | Yes | Development Tools | ||||
| Version control support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Development Tools | ||||
| MDX edit, debug, and design tools | Yes | Yes | Yes | Development Tools | ||||
| Basic R integration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Programmability | ||
| Advanced R integration | Yes | Yes | Programmability | |||||
| R Server (Standalone) | Yes | Yes | Programmability | |||||
| Polybase compute node | Yes | Yes | Yes | Programmability | ||||
| Polybase head node | Yes | Programmability | ||||||
| JSON | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Programmability |
| Query Store | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Programmability |
| Temporal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Programmability |
| Common Language Runtime (CLR) Integration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Programmability |
| Native XML support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Programmability |
| XML indexing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Programmability |
| MERGE & UPSERT capabilities | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Programmability |
| FILESTREAM support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Programmability |
| FileTable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Programmability |
| Date and Time datatypes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Programmability |
| Internationalization support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Programmability |
| Full-text and semantic search | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Programmability | ||
| Specification of language in query | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Programmability | ||
| Service Broker (messaging) | Yes | Yes | No (Client only) | No (Client only) | No (Client only) | No (Client only) | Yes | Programmability |
| Transact-SQL endpoints | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Programmability | |||
| SQL Server Import and Export Wizard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Integration Services |
| Built-in data source connectors | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Integration Services |
| Azure data source connectors and tasks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Integration Services |
| Hadoop / HDFS connectors and tasks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Integration Services | |||
| SSIS Designer and runtime | Yes | Yes | Yes | Integration Services | ||||
| Built in tasks and transformations | Yes | Yes | Yes | Integration Services | ||||
| Basic data profiling tools | Yes | Yes | Yes | Integration Services | ||||
| Change Data Capture Service for Oracle by Attunity | Yes | Yes | Integration Services | |||||
| Change Data Capture Designer for Oracle by Attunity | Yes | Yes | Integration Services | |||||
| High performance Oracle destination | Yes | Yes | Integration Services - Advanced Adapters | |||||
| High performance Teradata Destination | Yes | Yes | Integration Services - Advanced Adapters | |||||
| SAP BW source and destination | Yes | Yes | Integration Services - Advanced Adapters | |||||
| Data mining model training destination adapter | Yes | Yes | Integration Services - Advanced Adapters | |||||
| Dimension processing destination adapter | Yes | Yes | Integration Services - Advanced Adapters | |||||
| Partition processing destination adapter | Yes | Yes | Integration Services - Advanced Adapters | |||||
| Change Data Capture components by Attunity | Yes | Yes | Integration Services - Advanced Adapters | |||||
| Connector for Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) by Attunity | Yes | Yes | Integration Services - Advanced Adapters | |||||
| Persistent (high performance) lookups | Yes | Yes | Integration Services - Advanced Transforms | |||||
| Data mining query transformation | Yes | Yes | Integration Services - Advanced Transforms | |||||
| Fuzzy grouping and lookup transformations | Yes | Yes | Integration Services - Advanced Transforms | |||||
| Term extractions and lookup transformations | Yes | Yes | Integration Services - Advanced Transforms | |||||
| Master Data Services database | Yes | Yes | Master Data Services | |||||
| Master Data Manager web application | Yes | Yes | Master Data Services | |||||
| Create cubes without a database | Yes | Yes | Yes | Data Warehouse | ||||
| Auto-generate staging and data warehouse schema | Yes | Yes | Yes | Data Warehouse | ||||
| Change data capture | Yes | Yes | Data Warehouse | |||||
| Star join query optimizations | Yes | Yes | Data Warehouse | |||||
| Scalable read-only Analysis Services configuration | Yes | Yes | Data Warehouse | |||||
| Parallel query processing on partitioned tables and indexes | Yes | Yes | Data Warehouse | |||||
| xVelocity memory optimized columnstore indexes | Yes | Yes | Data Warehouse | |||||
| Global batch aggregation | Yes | Yes | Data Warehouse | |||||
| Scalable shared databases | Yes | Yes | Analysis Services | |||||
| Backup/Restore & Attach/Detach databases | Yes | Yes | Yes | Analysis Services | ||||
| Synchronize databases | Yes | Yes | Analysis Services | |||||
| Always On failover cluster instances | Yes | Yes | Yes | Analysis Services | ||||
| Analysis Services | ||||||||
| Number of nodes is the operating system maximum | Support for 2 nodes | Number of nodes is the operating system maximum | Analysis Services | |||||
| Programmability (AMO, ADOMD.Net, OLEDB, XML/A, ASSL, TMSL) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Analysis Services | ||||
| Semi-additive measures | Yes | No 1 | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Hierarchies | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| KPIs | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Perspectives | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | |||||
| Actions | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Account intelligence | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Time intelligence | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Custom rollups | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Writeback cube | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Writeback dimensions | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | |||||
| Writeback cells | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Drillthrough | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Advanced hierarchy types (parent-child and ragged hierarchies) | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Advanced dimensions (reference dimensions, many-to-many dimensions) | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Linked measures and dimensions | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | |||||
| Translations | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Aggregations | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Multiple partitions | Yes | Yes, up to 3 | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Proactive caching | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | |||||
| Custom assemblies (stored procedures) | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| MDX queries and scripts | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| DAX queries | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Role-based security model | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Dimension and cell-level security | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Scalable string storage | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| MOLAP, ROLAP, and HOLAP storage models | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Binary and compressed XML transport | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | ||||
| Push-mode processing | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | |||||
| Direct writeback | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | |||||
| Measure expressions | Yes | Yes | BI Multi-Dim | |||||
| Hierarchies | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Tabular | ||||
| KPIs | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Tabular | ||||
| Perspectives | Yes | Yes | BI Tabular | |||||
| Translations | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Tabular | ||||
| DAX calculations, DAX queries, MDX queries | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Tabular | ||||
| Row-level security | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Tabular | ||||
| Multiple partitions | Yes | Yes | BI Tabular | |||||
| In-memory storage mode | Yes | Yes | Yes | BI Tabular | ||||
| DirectQuery storage mode | Yes | Yes | BI Tabular | |||||
| SharePoint farm integration based on shared service architecture | Yes | Yes | Power Pivot for SharePoint | |||||
| Usage reporting | Yes | Yes | Power Pivot for SharePoint | |||||
| Health monitoring rules | Yes | Yes | Power Pivot for SharePoint | |||||
| Power Pivot gallery | Yes | Yes | Power Pivot for SharePoint | |||||
| Power Pivot data refresh | Yes | Yes | Power Pivot for SharePoint | |||||
| Power Pivot data feeds | Yes | Yes | Power Pivot for SharePoint | |||||
| Standard algorithms | Yes | Yes | Yes | Data Mining | ||||
| Data mining tools (Wizards, Editors, Query Builders) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Data Mining | ||||
| Cross validation | Yes | Yes | Data Mining | |||||
| Models on filtered subsets of mining structure data | Yes | Yes | Data Mining | |||||
| Time series: Custom blending between ARTXP and ARIMA methods | Yes | Yes | Data Mining | |||||
| Time series: Prediction with new data | Yes | Yes | Data Mining | |||||
| Unlimited concurrent DM queries | Yes | Yes | Data Mining | |||||
| Advanced configuration & tuning options for data mining algorithms | Yes | Yes | Data Mining | |||||
| Support for plug-in algorithms | Yes | Yes | Data Mining | |||||
| Parallel model processing | Yes | Yes | Data Mining | |||||
| Time series: cross-series prediction | Yes | Yes | Data Mining | |||||
| Unlimited attributes for association rules | Yes | Yes | Data Mining | |||||
| Sequence prediction | Yes | Yes | Data Mining | |||||
| Multiple prediction targets for naïve Bayes, neural network and logistic regression | Yes | Yes | Data Mining | |||||
| Mobile reports and KPIs | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | |||||
| Supported catalog DB SQL Server edition | Standard or higher | Standard or higher | Web | Express | Standard or higher | Reporting Services | ||
| Supported data source SQL Server edition | All SQL Server editions | All SQL Server editions | Web | Express | All SQL Server editions | Reporting Services | ||
| Report server | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||
| Report designer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||
| Report designer web portal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||
| Role based security | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||
| Export to Excel, PowerPoint, Word, PDF, and images | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||
| Enhanced gauges and charting | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||
| Pin report items to Power BIdashboards | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||
| Custom authentication | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||
| Report as data feeds | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||
| Model support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | |||
| Create custom roles for role-based security | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||||
| Model Item security | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||||
| Infinite click through | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||||
| Shared component library | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||||
| Email and file share subscriptions and scheduling | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||||
| Report history, execution snapshots and caching | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||||
| SharePoint Integration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||||
| Remote and non-SQL data source support1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||||
| Data source, delivery and rendering, RDCE extensibility | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||||
| Custom branding | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | |||||
| Data driven report subscription | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | |||||
| Scale out deployment (Web farms) | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | |||||
| Alerting2 | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | |||||
| Power View 2 | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | |||||
| Report Builder (.rdlx) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||||
| Data Mining Add-ins for Excel and Visio 2010 (.xlsx, .vsdx) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | ||||
| Power Pivot for Excel 2010 and 2013 (.xlsx) | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | |||||
| Master Data Services Add-in for Excel (.xlsx) | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | |||||
| SQL Server Mobile Report Publisher (.rsmobile) | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services | |||||
| Power BI apps for mobile devices (iOS, Windows 10, Android) (.rsmobile) | Yes | Yes | Reporting Services |
Upgrade Considerations for SQL Server Analysis Services
In-place upgrade will replace your older folder path with new binaries of SQL Server 2016. No manual backup and restoring of data is necessary.
Side-by-side migration will allow you to migrate your SQL Server to a different environment. Advantage of Side-by-Side migration over in-place method is that you can fall back to your previous environment easily, whereas in case of in-place it is much difficult. You can simply backup and restore your database on-to the new environment and test it before moving into production.
This process is applicable to move Tabular and Multi-dimensional data models. You can run post installation steps and run DBCC commands to check the database consistency and orphaned objects.
Tabular Models will get the maximum performance benefits when moved from 2012 to 2016 models.
In-place upgrade for Tabular Models running in direct-query models is not supported.
More upgrade details are available on the MSDN website.