Hi,
Trying to follow MS licensing agreement and here is a problem - got multiple servers, supplied with software that is running on top of SQL 2012 Standard. Old databases are SQL 2000 and upgrade is technically simple, side-by-side DB backup on older servers, restore on another machine, running trial edition of SQL 2008, making new backup and, finally, restoring in the production. However, MS license agreement doesn't allow you to use trial editions for anything other thandemonstration or internal evaluation.
Downgrading to SQL2008 on a new servers isn't an option, as we then need to re-install all 3rd party applications. DBs are larger that 10GB, so Express edition will not help either.
Appreciate you thoughts.
Ibrahim