Windows Server 2003 Migration Planning

Windows Server 2003 end of life is the perfect excuse for business innovation, so why not take advantage of the opportunity. Migrating away from Windows Server 2003 allows you to update your system and take full advantage of the updated features available with newer software. The migration solutions available offer new data center automation and a flexible infrastructure that breaks through the traditional boundaries of storage, virtualisation and identity, while providing an application platform to support the growing demands of today’s businesses.

As you may have read in our Windows Server 2003 End of Life post, there are a number of other reasons why it is ideal for businesses to migrate before the end of life date of July 14, 2015. Migration is a lengthy process and will take a lot of planning and preparation; however it is worth the time and effort. Migrating will help you achieve concrete benefits such as; improved performance, reduced maintenance requirements and increased agility and speed of response. 

Migrating – Where to start:

As a Microsoft Partner we recommend using the following four stages to plan your migration:     

      ü  Discover
      ü  Assess
      ü  Target
      ü  Migrate

A document detailing these stages in full can be found here >> http://bit.ly/1zk7Rgx

Stage 1 – Discover

In order to plan what application need to be upgraded or migrated you need to establish what applications and workloads you have running on Windows Server 2003. When making a note of all of your applications it is also important to make a note of the versions, licensing agreements and what hardware they run on. 

Stage 2 – Assess

Now you need to categorise and analyse all of your listed workloads and applications based on type, criticality, complexity and risk.  This can help you to evaluate whether to re-host, refactor, revise, rebuild or replace applications and also help you to prioritise workloads and applications for migration by identifying issues or opportunities such as:

      û  Vital business-critical applications and workloads that need immediate attention and additional                                    capacity

      û  Redundancies in your environment and mismatched service levels

      û  Applications without the right level of IT control

      û  Misallocated resources for underutilised or unneeded business-critical projects

Stage 3 – Target

This is the phase where you need to determine the migration target destination for each application and workload. In this phase you have the opportunity to transform your business by embracing newer, more efficient and cost effective ways of delivering IT solutions to your users. Different workloads and applications will logically lead to certain targets, while others may offer the possibility of migration to multiple target destinations. The choice will ultimately be driven by factors such as; speed, ease of migration, cost and desired functionality.

 Stage 4 – Migrate

The migration itself will require smart planning and focused execution, in order to make sure goals are met. Choosing the right migration plan for your organisation may require additional analysis and assistance.

As a Microsoft Partner, Practical Networks are readily on hand to provide any guidance or assistance that you need with your migration. For help starting your migration plan call Andy on 01723 587240 or email migrate@practicalnetworks.co.uk

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Windows Server 2012 R2 - Upgrade Now!

As cybersecurity is set to be a major focus for businesses this year, we feel it fitting that our software pick this quarter is the Windows Server 2012 R2. Windows Server 2012 R2 is the most recent version of Microsoft’s Windows Server Platform and so is the most logical choice when migrating from Windows Server 2003, which retires in June.

What is Windows Server 2012 R2?
Windows Server 2012 is an enterprise-grade, open application and web platform that forms a foundation for businesses, by helping build, deploy, and scale modern applications and high-density websites for the datacentre and the cloud. Windows Server 2012 R2 also enables IT to empower users by providing them with flexible, policy-based resources while protecting corporate information.


The Benefits:
• Simplified deployment of IT services

• High service uptime

• Secures corporate data

• Easily scales to continuously run the largest workloads

• User Centric

• Application focused

• Simple & Cost effective

• Disaster recovery & Business continuity

Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity:
Windows Server 2012 allows you to achieve affordable, multi-node business continuity scenarios with high service uptime and at-scale disaster recovery. Windows Server 2012 has powerful availability features to protect against service outages, along with automated protection and recovery for cost-effective business continuity. These features allow for improved workload SLA’s and a reduced downtime risk.

User Centric:
Business technology has become increasingly mobile and user centric and with Windows Server 2012 end users will have access to information and data regardless of the infrastructure, network, device or application. Windows Server 2012 also makes it possible for you to provide consistent access to corporate resources by managing and federating user identities and credentials across the organisation, while providing secure access to your corporate network. Additionally Windows Server 2012 helps you better protect information and manage risk, by validating user identities, verifying their devices and taking advantage of data classification.


So if you’re looking to migrate away from Windows Server 2003 or just want to update your system, look no further. For more information or for assistance in migrating call Andy on 01723 587240.

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