What Should Your Business Do Now To Prepare For The Windows Server 2008 End Of Life?
Microsoft is stopping mainstream support for Windows Server 2008 on January 14, 2020. This is a popular technology solution, so the end of support creates concern for many. Read on and we’ll explain what this means and what you should do.
What Does Windows 2008 Server End Of Life Mean For Your Company?
Windows Server 2008 End Of Life means Microsoft will no longer improve the product, accept warranty claims, or provide non-security hotfixes. January 14, 2020 marks the End of Support for Servers 2008 and 2008R2.
Unfortunately, many businesses in New England aren’t ready for this. The reasons vary, but many company owners stay busy running their day-to-day operations, and they don’t have time for issues like this. And yet, this is a crucial server EOL that could cause many disruptions to your business if not dealt with promptly and properly.
How Soon Should You Get A New Server?
You need to change over from the Windows 2008 Server and Windows 2008R2 to a supported server by January 14, 2020. That’s the very last moment you’ll have before support is no longer available.
However, most IT professionals believe that companies should already be working on this. Migrating all of your data, applications and other IT solutions to new servers is a time-consuming and complicated process. What if there are problems and issues?
By waiting, you place your IT assets in danger, and you could pay more for last-minute service. Think of this as an auto repair problem. The sooner you get it fixed, the less it will typically cost. Avoid extra costs and problems by upgrading your servers now.
What Other Problems Can Happen?
An end to bug fixes and those all-important security updates may be the ultimate deal breaker for most. Data managers will tell you that not having these fixes makes your data vulnerable to access by hackers. Cybercriminals are on the look-out for ways to infiltrate your systems and steal your confidential data.
Since Microsoft will no longer offer security updates and bug fixes for Server 2008, this creates numerous loopholes in data security that could be exploited. These security breaches can be avoided by installing a newer generation server with supported security updates.
What Should You Do Before Windows Server 2008 End Of Life?
There are many reliable servers available on the market today. This new generation of servers offers better efficiency, virtualization, faster speeds and many other excellent attributes. Do some research to ensure that you get a proper replacement that will address all the functions your organization requires.
How Do You Get Ready For The Upgrade?
Installing new servers can be challenging. You have to plan out the process so that everything is performed correctly and during off hours. This way it won’t disrupt your daily operations. The sooner you start, the better.
To plan for an infrastructure upgrade, you must rewrite and migrate all applications based on the SQL Server 2008 to a safe storage place. The new server may require some troubleshooting. SQL databases can be hosted on the Windows Server 2008 hardware as you install the new system.
During the transition, put a data protection infrastructure in place that will eliminate risks during a server upgrade. This will protect your data from problems with the old server and risks associated with the new system. While this will cost extra, the fines associated with a data breach are often far more expensive.
What Else Should You Do? Work With Your IT Professionals
If your business is running Windows Server 2008 you can look at these 3 Solutions based on your business needs when you need to upgrade:
- Migrate to the Cloud with a product like Azure server from Microsoft.
- Upgrade your on-premise server to a Window 2016 or 2019 Server.
- Choose a Hybrid solution that uses what’s best from both solutions.
In most cases, it can be highly beneficial to give the entire project over to your IT Service Provider. They can handle the transfer of data and install, and set up your new server correctly. This will minimize problems and downtime. And, if you use an in-house IT department and they haven’t done this before, you could run into all sorts of issues that could be avoided by working with a skilled, experienced IT provider.
Do You Have More Questions About Upgrading From Windows Server 2008?
Every Windows operating system has a lifecycle. Radius Executive IT Solutions can migrate your IT environment from Windows Server 2008 to an on-premise or cloud-based server solution to avoid the problems we mentioned above.
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