SQL Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 End of Extended Support

On July 12, 2018, Microsoft announced new options for SQL Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 end of support. End of support is quickly approaching:

• Extended Support for SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 will end on July 9, 2019
• Extended Support for Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 will end on January 14, 2020

How to Stay Secure and Compliant

End of support for these releases means the end of regular security updates. With cyberattacks becoming more sophisticated and frequent, running applications and data on unsupported versions can create significant security and compliance risks. With these risks and end of support dates coming soon, Microsoft has provided a cost-effective alternative to allow you to keep your 2008 release servers by migrating to the Azure cloud.

Microsoft announced that free Extended Security Updates will be available in Azure for 2008 and 2008 R2 versions of SQL Server and Windows Server. These updates will help secure your workloads for three more years after the end of support deadline. The benefits of migrating to Azure are many and include:

• Savings when migrating SQL Server or Windows Server environments to Azure virtual machines by utilizing Azure Hybrid Benefit. Microsoft customers with Software Assurance save up to 55% on the cost of running SQL Server and Windows Server in Azure.
• No application code changes for SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2  
• Near zero downtime to Azure SQL Database Managed Instance, which is a fully-managed-database-as-a-service solution with industry leading SLAs that do not require future upgrades

Daymark Recommendations

We recommend that customers who have applications on the 2008 release servers begin migration planning to Azure as soon as possible. Depending on the application size, we have seen customers whose migrations have lasted anywhere from 3-12 months. The time-consuming piece of the migration is the planning, replication and testing to make sure everything in the application works the same in the cloud as it does on-premises. If you delay and experience a long migrationeffort, you could run up against the end of extended support deadline and put your company’s data at risk.

Need help? Daymark is a Microsoft Tier 1 Cloud Service Provider. Our consultants have extensive experience with Azure migrations and would be happy to map out your migration strategy. Contact us today to get started.