Upgrading and migrating to SharePoint 2013

 Apr 20, 2015

Upgrading your SharePoint Server 2010 environment to SharePoint Server 2013 is a major undertaking and it requires careful planning. In contrast with earlier versions of SharePoint, SharePoint 2013 supports not only database-attach upgrades for content, but it now supports upgrades for some of the databases associated with service applications.

You need to plan your upgrade properly. You should announce the upgrade and preferably, perform the upgrade over a weekend to avoid downtime. You will also need to upskill your end-users and the administrators so that they are accustomed to the new environment, ideally before the upgrade is completed.

The upgrade process consists of various steps including:

  1. Creating the SharePoint 2013 farm – the settings of the farm should duplicate the settings of the current farm.
  2. Copying the databases to the new farm and marking them to read and write.
  3. Configuring the service applications in your new environment using the database attach method.
  4. Creating the web applications.
  5. Upgrading the database.
  6. Upgrading the site collections.

The following table shows the supported upgrade paths for SharePoint 2013 and the paths that are not supported. Upgrading and migrating to SharePoint 2013
To ensure a smooth upgrade, you can follow some of these best practice tips.

  • Always perform a trial upgrade.
  • Remember that issues in your current environment might not allow you to successfully upgrade to SharePoint 2013 environment.
  • Clean up your environment before the upgrade process and backup your existing databases.
  • After the upgrade, review the Upgrade Status page and upgrade logs to determine whether you must address any issues.

For more information, take a look at New Horizons' SharePoint 2013 training courses.

How do your Excel skills stack up?   

Test Now  

About the Author:

San Roy  

San is a highly skilled IT Infrastructure professional with over 15 years experience in a technical training capacity. Throughout his career as a technical training consultant San Has been responsible for the development of numerous IT professionals, providing knowledge and expertise in the areas of Server Operating Systems, Database Management Systems, Messaging and Collaboration. San primarily specialises in delivering training in Microsoft products including Windows Server OS, Windows Client OS, SQL Server, SharePoint Server and Exchange Server. Through his years of practical experience as a technical trainer he is able to provide added insight and value to students that reach beyond the scope of a standard course outline. San has established himself as one of New Horizons’ preferred trainers by continually bringing a combination of technical expertise and personality to the classroom each day.

Read full bio
top