I have several database tables that are running out of integer values on multiple columns and need to convert them to big int. These columns are comprised of primary non-clustered keys and other columns are part of the clustered and non-clustered indexes.
These are very large tables with like 1.5 to 1.8 billions rows for at least 2 of these tables and multiple columns in each table that need to be converted.
I would like to keep the application online as much as possible during the process and would like to know if there would be a way to leverage Always On to do this to minimize downtime.
I know there is Alter Table Alter Column Online in 2016 but you have drop the constraints and indexes so that impacts the user's experience.
Thank you
Sue