How to Handle the Migration to Windows Server 2012

  

To steal a bit 'of a line of "Game of Thrones", "July 2015 is coming." How Microsoft plans to cut support for Windows Server 2003, companies will have to migrate to Server 2012 or face the incompatibility between legacy applications and the latest operating system.

The companies - such as hospitals and utilities - run around 23.8 million physical and virtual instances of Windows Server 2003, Microsoft said in July 2014, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The transition also offers the opportunity to standardize business applications on an operating system, according to Al Gillin, program vice president for server and software systems at IDC.
"If you can standardize their business on Windows Server 2012 and have only one operating system to be more efficient and less expensive to operate than if you have Server 2012, Server 2008, Server 2008 R2 and Server 2003 R2" Gillin said.

Migrating to Windows Server 2003 also enables organizations to take stock of the applications will have to go to the new environment.

"Every migration must begin with a review of all applications, processes and users who require access in order to ensure that the resources and the appropriate applications will be available when the migration takes place," said Michael Tweddle, Executive Director Software for the management of the Dell product.

Targeting multiple destinations

Companies can migrate applications from your Windows 2003 to destinations based on their workload. Options include cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure and Office 365 and a virtualized environment, such as VMware vSphere.

"Migrating applications the best destination for them because it is an internal application or directly in a format based on cloud provider of software-as-a-service," Gillin suggested.

Instances of Windows 2003, you can migrate to a virtualized environment on a single server that contains multiple instances and hypervisors and software stack. "This means that you will have 10 instances of Windows Server 2003 and roll into a new machine alone," said Gillin.

The migration to Windows Server 2012 can also request a server update. Dell PowerEdge servers with Intel Xeon processors offer management capabilities to reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) that provides automation capabilities.

Gaining energy efficiency

During the upgrade of servers to new models, like the line Dell PowerEdge Intel Xeon engine, now in its 13th generation, as well as the upgrade to Windows Server 2012, companies can reduce energy consumption, free storage and improve the capacity of existing refrigeration.

Energy efficiency is the first factor companies should consider when deciding whether to load a server and operating system, according to John Fruehe, analyst at Moor knowledge and strategy. "The latest platforms will be energy efficient, and that will be a big problem with the customers," he said.

Upgrading to a new server with Intel Xeon processors also bring a better control of energy consumption through the solution of Intel Node Manager, which is included in the software of Dell OpenManage Power Center.

Migration tools

Several tools help ease migration to Windows Server 2012, including Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit. MAP is an inventory for the entire network that allows companies to collect information about your entire network from a single computer network.

Meanwhile, Dell Migration Services ZeroIMPACT steps companies through migration, and Dell ChangeBASE provides comprehensive compatibility testing to ensure that applications can run on Windows Server 2012.

During the transition, companies can use a tool like Dell Enterprise Reporter for auditing, analysis and reporting. The application allows companies to collect, store and report on Active Directory configurations, file servers and SQL Server database.