Running outdated software can trigger non-compliance, leading to unforeseen costs. Other indirect costs could include loss of data integrity and a jeopardized corporate reputation. Compatibility Simply put, any new software or device you attempt to connect, install or configure on your Windows Server box may not properly work.
Due to the Windows Server End of Life, many manufacturers will no longer provide compatible devices and software. Cost Keeping Windows Server systems operational after system expiration will increase operational expenses over time.
Short-term savings from not upgrading will turn to long-term costs associated with maintaining legacy servers such as the cost of enhanced security and support. You can migrate to the cloud , virtualize, upgrade to multiple new versions of Windows Server , or create a hybrid solution. All of these options provide you greater functionality as well such as Branche Cache, Server Manager, and online storage.
Step 1 — Choose a Partner: Migrating and upgrading your organization-wide systems are complex challenges that require a trusted migration partner. An experienced managed services solutions provider can deliver a quick and painless transition and reduce unnecessary downtime.
DISYS can provide end-to-end migration guidance to help you modernize and attain the benefits from a newer version of Windows. The whole system needs to be backed up. If there is some sort of software failure or hardware malfunction, these backups are going to save your organization.
So, you can very well understand the importance attached to them. Something else you have to do is check often to ensure the backups are all in place and can be recovered at any given time for your benefit. This is also connected to the fact that your systems are more likely than not running old hardware. You might still be keeping Windows Server around for archival purposes. Perhaps you want to continue running your website until you figure out an effective way to migrate to a more recent server.
This will also help in isolating your system server and protecting it. Ultimately, it is the organization, rather than Microsoft, that is going to decide when their resources will be put out to pasture. Benjamin Roussey is from Sacramento, CA. He enjoys sports, movies, reading, and current events when he is not working online. Your email address will not be published.
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Benjamin Roussey January 31, Why not upgrade? Post Views: 8, Featured Links. Featured Product. For organizations not making the move but cognizant of the potential exposure, there are some steps you can take. Mind you, there will eventually come a tipping point where you are spending more money to shore up your antiquated WS servers than it would cost to migrate, so keep that in mind when considering the following:. Lock down services and limit access to the physical server, and make sure all logging is turned on to monitor for unusual activity or unauthorized access.
Make sure permissions and user access is as limited as possible," said Tsai. You should be very active and aggressive in backing up your data for many reasons, not just because of potential compromise, but simply the fact that WS won't be fixed in any way, and an unpatched bug could cause data loss or corruption.
So make sure the server is regularly and thoroughly backed up if it is not already. So if you don't have a plan for failed hardware or failed OS, you're up a creek. At least a backup solution will allow you to restore from a device in case your others fail," said Jeff Denworth, senior vice president of marketing for CTERA, a cloud storage platform provider that is working with Server customers to migrate their backup solutions.
Also, be careful with your backup solutions because they may end up costing more than a Server migration. That's a cabinet's worth of servers. Consider isolating your Server servers from central services. Segment those machines from the rest of the network. Cut off any connection to the Internet unless it's absolutely necessary," said Tsai. So it will work for isolated departments or teams, but for email, domain, Web and other typical solutions, this method won't work very well.
Application whitelisting is a security model that says what apps may run, rather than the blacklisting method that says what apps are not allowed to run. Blacklisting is the method used in antivirus programs, and since blacklisting relies on knowing what the badware is in the first place, it's why your antivirus program updates two or three times a day and is still often behind the bad guys. Application whitelisting is a very effective method for application control because only the permitted apps can run.
By ensuring only trusted software is allowed to run on the server, application whitelisting will lock out zero-day exploits and other malware. However, McMullin notes it can be a problem is the app whitelisting if done by IP addresses and you have a mobile force, since IP addresses will change as they move. A cloud backup service requires no hardware to deploy. You can sign up with a provider and start uploading in five minutes and you have a sizable number to choose from.
But you better shop around. Amazon S3 backup costs just three cents for 1TB per month. Back in its day, Windows Server handled security issues, but security has since moved out of the OS layer and into discrete appliances, said McMullin. So that would mean the security workload is divorced from the server. The server would still have security functions to perform but the heavy lifting would be done by an external device," he said.
But Denworth notes that these are high-end systems, and "the cost there is arguably in excess of adequate security wrapped around an up-to-date Microsoft environment. At this point, there should be plenty of experienced consultants who can help with the migration, but make sure to check their experience at this. Microsoft is abandoning the OS but not the people who use it.
It has prepared an entire site for Windows Server End of Service , all of which is dedicated to helping you plan your migration.
Microsoft lays this out in a four-step migration process, which involves:. The site has a Microsoft Assessment and Planning toolkit you can download, which works with System Center to examine your infrastructure and identify all of the servers and apps running on them. Assess: Now you have a list of servers and apps, it's time to categorize your apps and workloads by type, importance and complexity. This could mean having to rearchitect your infrastructure around Windows Server and System Center , which have changed radically since Server Target: This is where you the destination for each application and workload.
Because of the variety of apps and workloads, Microsoft offers a number of free software trials to test out your apps and workloads.
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