Question

Which one:

• datetime
• datetime2

is the recommended way to store date and time in SQL Server 2008+?

I’m aware of differences in precision (and storage space probably), but ignoring those for now, is there a best practice document on when to use what, or maybe we should just use datetime2 only?

Answer 1

The MSDN documentation for datetime recommends using datetime2. Here is their recommendation:

Use the time, date, datetime2 and
datetimeoffset data types for new
work. These types align with the SQL
Standard. They are more portable.
time, datetime2 and datetimeoffset
provide more seconds precision.
datetimeoffset provides time zone
support for globally deployed
applications.

datetime2 has larger date range, a larger default fractional precision, and optional user-specified precision. Also depending on the user-specified precision it may use less storage.