title: Sql Server 2008 Arithmetic Overflow Error Bigint
body: <p>I've been trying to sum the rows of a column using </p>
  
  <pre><code>select sum(columnA)
  from tableA
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>however I keep getting the error,</p>
  
  <p><code>Arithmetic overflow error converting expression to data type bigint</code></p>
  
  <p><code>ColumnA</code> is already set as a bigint in the table and even when i try </p>
  
  <pre><code>select sum(cast(columnA as bigint)) from tableA
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I still get the same error. I know that the sum of the values in the column range should equal somewhere around 111500000000000000. Is this too big for a bigint?</p>
  
  <p>If so how can I get around this error?</p>