Most IT professionals understand the importance of moving critical enterprise data and apps off Windows Server 2003 before support expires next July, but gaining support from budget-conscious business executives can be a challenge. The regulatory and compliance risks of managing servers that are no longer receiving updates or technical support are frightening, and the potential costs of maintaining these legacy servers and protecting them against cyber-attacks can have long-term impacts on IT budgets.
But quantifying the financial case for Windows Server 2003 migration can still be a challenge, since putting hard numbers behind these cost factors can be difficult. This is particularly challenging given the longevity of Windows Server 2003 deployments in many organizations. Read on to find out how Intel can help you make the financial case for a Windows Server upgrade.
Windows Server 2003 has been a reliable workhorse for over a decade, a bastion of corporate computing available in multiple editions targeted toward particular sizes and types of business. But on July 14, 2015, Microsoft will stop releasing critical patches for it.
In my experience, security, compliance, and maintenance are important factors to review when justifying Windows Server 2003 migration to Windows Server 2012 R2, but many organizations also need to model actual server replacement costs to make a financial case for migration. This requires complex, multivariable calculations that can be time-consuming as IT faces a fixed deadline for losing access to support updates.
To make things easier, I’d like to share this tool with you. Intel’s Xeon Processor-Based Server Refresh Savings Estimator can help IT make a financial case for migration. Developed from Intel IT’s experience in justifying server refreshes internally, this free, Web-based tool allows you to enter data about your existing environment and evaluate the benefits of replacing it with the latest generation of Intel-based servers, Ethernet products, and solid-state drives.
It allows you to enter information about your existing data center environment and evaluate the optimal servers for your project life cycle. The Server Refresh Savings Estimator models the combined effects of compute, memory and I/O so you can quickly understand the overall implications for server sizing and selection to meet your service level agreements.
It incorporates the required number of servers to address projected workloads and helps IT evaluate the cost impacts of using solid-state drives versus hard-disk drives and migrating from 1 Gb to 10 Gb adapters. It also helps identify the possible freeing of IT staff to address other critical IT business needs.
Reduced operating system licensing costs is a primary factor driving up the ROI for consolidating servers, so it is important to input your current per-server OS licensing cost to reflect your actual situation. Once you’ve entered the data via a browser interface you can download a report summarizing your refresh project that can be a vital tool for making a financial case for Windows 2003 migration.
With the end-of-support date for Windows Server 2003 fast approaching, there’s never been a better time-or an easier 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.
