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sql-serversql-server-2008backuprestore

Restore SQL Server 2008 backup to SQL Server 2016

Can you restore SQL Server 2008 backup to SQL Server 2016 ? Thank you

Solution

  • Yes. SQL Server is backward compatible with any version that was supported at the time the version was released.

    For SQL Server 2016 that was SQL Server 2008-2014.

    A full list of the compatibility modes available can be found on the documentation here.

    Note that restoring a database on a newer version of SQL Server is a one way process. The database, from an older version, will be upgraded to work on the newer version and set to the appropriate compatibility level. You cannot restore a compatibility 100 database from SQL Server 2016 on a SQL Server 2008 instance (or anything else prior to 2016).