You're confusing a network protocol client (the MSSQL "driver") with an on-disk format. You can't upgrade the MSSQL server from 2001 to current in-place: https:

You're confusing a network protocol client (the MSSQL "driver") with an on-disk format. You can't upgrade the MSSQL server from 2001 to current in-place: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/database-engine/install-windows/supported-version-and-edition-upgrades-2019?view=sql-server-ver16 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/database-engine/instal...