One of team member suggested that we should upgrade to SQL Server 2008 because its new feature is very cool “Hot Add CPU”.
Yes, I agree it is very cool feature. I am eagerly waiting for RTM of SQL Server 2008 so I can upgrade our servers to SQL Server 2008. However, to use the feature of High Availability of “Hot Add CPU” has many restrictions and I am not sure we will be in need of that right away or for atleast couple of year.
Let us look at few of the restrictions for using Hot Add CPU
1) Hardware where CPU is to be added (motherboard) should support this feature because not all hardware supports it. Underlying hardware is the key point here.
2) OS where SQL Server is running must be Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition or Windows Server
2008 Datacenter Edition 64-bit. Now this is interesting as 64-bit is still not widely adopted and not everybody has upgraded to Windows Server 2008 editions.
3) SQL Server Enterprise Edition is the only edition which supports Hot Add CPU.
It is very clear from above three restriction or condition we will be not in need of Hot Add CPU feature in near future. The reason is if we are going to upgrade our OS to Windows Server 2008 and SQL server Enterprise Edition we will be surely buying very expensive brand new servers with latest bleeding edge technology. This way we will be satisfied with our servers for atleast one or two years.
In summary Hot Add CPU is very attractive feature but will be used in special needs.
Reference : Pinal Dave (https://blog.sqlauthority.com)
