By Terry Engelstad
MCP, MCSE, CCNA, MCDBA, MCTS, MCITP
AIS Network Operations Manager
Recently, a visitor to our website asked an excellent question about SharePoint migrations. How long does a migration and upgrade from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010 take? The answer to this question is very complex and depends on a number factors. The subject is much more complex than can be explained in a mere couple of paragraphs but here’s a very brief response.
First of all, his question is not about just a migration. It is about a migration and an upgrade. The answer depends on the following:
1) There are at least three different ways to migrate and upgrade SharePoint sites:
- Site by site
- Database detach/re-attach
- In-place upgrade
2) The size of the databases involved is huge in determining the duration.
3) The type of documents in Content.
4) What customizations have been enabled in the SharePoint 2007 implementation? Some may not “migrate.”
5) The speed of the server(s) involved.
As a point of reference, we recently did a migration and upgrade to SharePoint 2010 for a client. It took approximately four weeks to plan, test, and finally do the deed. The actual migration/upgrade took approximately 24 hours. This client has a 100 GB Content database and they did a database detach/re-attach and then an in-place upgrade. The only customizations that they made in their 2007 environment were to the visual theme, which did not migrate (it’s a known issue).
For those of you who are planning a migration, we’d be interested in hearing more of your questions below.