You can execute a migration strategy that addresses one of the following situations:

• The Collection Server requires maintenance, such as new hardware or a software upgrade (Microsoft Windows or SQL Server Service Pack).
• The Collection Server becomes permanently unavailable.
• The Collection Server is decommissioned and replaced.

Establishing a migration strategy for the Collection Server allows you to preserve existing audit settings and collected SQL Server events. You can also continue auditing your SQL Server environment to meet your compliance requirements with minimal disruption.

What is the Collection Server?

The Collection Server is the computer that hosts the Collection Service and the Repository databases. For more information, review the Product components and architecture.

Migration checklist

Use the following checklist to help you migrate your Collection Server.

Migration best practices

Before you execute your migration strategy, decide whether you will want to permanently move the Collection Server to another computer.

If you expect to replace the Collection Server, ensure you have an available SQL Server that can be a dedicated host for the Collection Server. This computer should meet or exceed the product requirements.

If you expect to repair the original Collection Server computer, ensure your strategy includes plans to reinstate the original computer once it is repaired. Consider the following guidelines:

• To minimize audit data loss, plan to backup the Repository databases on the temporary Collection Server immediately before reinstating the original Collection Server
• Use these migration procedures to reinstate the Collection Server on the original computer, configure the SQL Compliance Manager agents, and configure Reporting Services
• To verify all components were reinstated correctly, test your implementation
• Uninstall the Collection Server you previously implemented on the temporary computer