New SQL server

We have an application that runs on IIS 7.5 and windows server 2008 R2.  The backend is a sql server 2008R2 on a separate windows server 2008.

I want to retire the old sql server and I have built a new sql server.  We would like to reuse the name and IP address of the old server for the new sql server and I am sure I can do that however.  I wanted to do some testing and I was curious if I could simply change the host file on the application server as follows

old sql server name = new sql server ip address

I thought that might allow use to test our application with the new sql server and also give me an easy reversible change.

Any thoughts?
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IKtechAsked:
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Gaurav SinghHead - Managed ServicesCommented:
Yes for testing purpose you can edit the web.config file to point to new sql server. once all works fine. you can swap the IP address but same is a problem. you can create cname in DNS to keep alive old name
Vitor MontalvãoMSSQL Senior EngineerCommented:
You can do it but only one server can be connected to the network so there won't be IP and Name conflicts. So, install new server with the desired name and IP then when you need to connect it to the network remove the old one.

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