On July 14, 2015, Microsoft will stop releasing critical patches for Windows Server 2003. Running unsupported software presents significant risks and complications for your business that will only increase in severity as time goes on.
End of support for Windows Server 2003 can have a major impact on your business, so it’s important to take a server migration reality check. End of support means that Microsoft will no longer develop or release any updates for Windows Server 2003, and after support ends applications running on Windows Server 2003 will likely fail to meet compliance standards and regulations.
The costs of maintaining legacy, unsupported servers will likely skyrocket, and many enterprises may need to isolate the legacy servers to protect them with firewalls and intrusion detection systems from the latest cyber attacks since the servers will no longer receive any security updates.
In fact, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) recently issued an alert warning about the exposure to elevated risks of using Windows Server 2003 after the end of support that encouraged migration to supported operating systems or cloud-based services.
Redmond Magazine reports that the global installed based of Windows Server 2003 is approximately 24 million; half of the installations virtual and half on physical servers. As Microsoft’s deadline for ending Windows Server 2003 support looms, some enterprise professionals may be overwhelmed by the complexities of a major migration.
As you wrestle with developing a migration process, it’s important to make a Windows Server 2003 migration reality check to discover, assess and target workloads and software. To help clarify migration goals and planning, Intel suggests enterprises ask specific questions of your IT partners and ISVs.
By asking the right questions, you can gain a clear understanding of the hardware and software challenges your organization faces as the end of support deadline approaches. Intel offers 10 clear questions that can help you structure your migration and determine whether you should migrate workloads to Windows Server 2012 R2 or the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. The questionnaire includes notes on why you need answers to each question, and it includes a link to a free tool to help you model your server upgrades using a server refresh savings estimator.
Migrating away from Windows Server 2003 is an investment in your organization’s future. The timeframe is locked in place, so taking a migration reality check now is the best answer for making sure your organization is prepared for the harsh reality that is going to happen in July.
With the end of support date for Windows Server 2003 fast approaching, there’s never been a better time to plan your data center transformation. Our experts have designed this helpful tool to get you started on the right upgrade path for your unique environment, applications, and workloads.
