• Windows Server 2012 64-bit x64 Datacenter
• Windows Server 2012 64-bit x64 Standard
• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 64-bit x64 Datacenter
• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 64-bit x64 Enterprise
• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 64-bit x64 Standard
• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 64-bit x64 Web
SQL Server 2012 is
designed to run on
a wide range of
computer systems,
so its minimum
hardware
requirements are
surprising low.
SQL Server 2012 Upgrade Considerations
There are several limitations to be aware of before upgrading to SQL
Server 2012. The most important limitations are:
• Windows Server 2003 isn’t a supported OS. If your instance of
SQL Server is running on a Windows Server 2003 system, you
must upgrade the OS before upgrading to SQL Server 2012.
• A cross-platform upgrade isn’t supported. You can’t upgrade a
32-bit version of SQL Server to a 64-bit version.
• You can’t add new features as a part of the upgrade process. However, you can add new features after the upgrade.
• The Windows Installer service must be running.
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3. 5 SP1 and .NET Framework 4.0 are
required.
• Windows PowerShell 2.0 or later is required if you’re upgrading
the database engine.
• IIS 7.0 or later is required for the Microsoft Management Console
(MMC), SQL Server Data Tools, Report Designer in SQL Server
Reporting Services (SSRS), and HTML help.
For more information about the prerequisites for installing SQL Server
2012, you can refer to “Hardware and Software Requirements for
Installing SQL Server 2012.”
Supported Upgrade Paths
You can’t simply upgrade from any edition of SQL Server to any other
edition. Microsoft provides a set of supported upgrade paths. This is
