Windows Server 2003 Migration - Presented by Atidan

Editor's Notes

• #3: Mainstream support from Microsoft for Windows Server 2003 ended in July 2010. Windows Server 2003/R2 has been on Extended Support since then, which means only security updates are released. July 14, 2015 is the End of Support for Windows Server 2003/R2.
• #4: End of support means: No updates 37 critical updates were released in 2013 for Windows Server 2003/R2 under Extended Support. No updates will be developed or released after end of support. No compliance Lack of compliance with various standards and regulations can be devastating. This may include various regulatory and industry standards for which compliance can no longer be achieved. For example, lack of compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards might mean companies such as Visa and MasterCard will no longer do business with you. Or, the new cost of doing business will include paying catastrophic penalties and astronomically high transaction fees. No safe haven Both virtualized and physical instances of Windows Server 2003 are vulnerable and would not pass a compliance audit. Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) 2003 servers are also affected. Staying put will cost more in the end. Maintenance costs for aging hardware will also increase. Added costs will be incurred for intrusion detection systems, more advanced firewalls, network segmentation, and so on—simply to isolate Windows Server 2003 servers. Many applications will also cease to be supported, once the operating system they are running on is unsupported. This includes all Microsoft applications. Now is the time to act You must start planning migration now. Servers may still be running Windows Server 2003/R2 for a number of reasons. You can use these reasons as a discussion point: Perceived challenges of upgrading applications Presence of custom and legacy applications Budget and resource constraints Additional information: “Making the case for upgrading from Server 2003” (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/23/windows_server_2003_reasons_to_upgrade_analysis/)
• #5: Windows Server 2003 provided IT with an amazing operating system for the past 10 years, but IT has changed a lot since then. The industry is moving forward and so has the operating system. It’s important to understand why your peers are making the transformation. Main point In the face of an exploding need for technology that supports the business, we need to transform the datacenter to take advantage of cloud computing models. Today, every area of the business, from marketing to sales to human resources, depends on technology. As a result, the need for IT resources is growing steadily. The move to cloud computing reflects the trend: as business requirements grow, a flexible option for keeping up with that growth is by accessing cloud capacity. We are all seeing trends that reflect the growth of cloud—the question is: how can IT build a cloud strategy that makes sense? And just as important, how can IT continue to take advantage of the strengths of today’s datacenter while evolving to a new hybrid cloud model?   Key points 71 percent of companies see rising demand for IT projects in 2013 To keep costs down and make it possible for IT to respond to this rising demand, IDC predicts that: By 2016, 70 percent of CIOs will embrace a “cloud first” strategy By 2020, Forrester predicts that 45 percent of total IT spending will be cloud-related All of these statistics point to the fact that customers are looking for more agility, increased ease of management, and access to cloud capacity to enable them to handle increased demands without increasing costs.
• #6: Entertain the option of moving to not just Windows Server 2012 R2, but to also taking advantage of Microsoft Azure (IaaS). When you think about moving to a hybrid cloud model, there are three things that you really have to have in order to make hybrid work. First of all, you need cloud options on demand. You need to be able to extend to the cloud when it makes sense for your business and according to your own company’s needs. Your datacenter today is configured to meet the specific needs of your business, and your cloud solution should meet that same standard. Think about consistency across clouds, management of heterogeneous resources, and workload mobility. Next, you need to reduce cost and complexity. There’s a common misperception that moving to hybrid cloud is going to increase the burden on IT. You need to take advantage of innovation in the right way—meaning real-world solutions to old problems. Finally—and most importantly—you have to be able to deliver a rapid response to the business. Transforming the datacenter has to make you faster. So whatever resources you add or whatever changes you make, the standard is: has it enabled IT to deliver services more rapidly? What does Microsoft offer? With the Microsoft product set, you can have a datacenter without boundaries, which means you have the ability to go beyond the resources you have on-premises. You can easily access cloud resources when it makes the most sense for your business: To build new applications or websites that require global scale in a snap To scale infrastructure at a moment’s notice to meet the most demanding business requirements To reduce storage, backup, and recovery costs And you get a consistent experience across datacenter and cloud deployments so that you can use existing skills to take advantage of the new hybrid model. With more hybrid cloud options available, you can take advantage of Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Services using the same virtual machine format as Windows Server. Then you want to be able to take advantage of cloud innovation everywhere. At Microsoft, we work with massive scale deployments every day both internally and with some of the largest companies on the planet. As we learn from those deployments, we bring them back to you in all of our offerings, both in the datacenter with products like Windows Server and in the cloud with services like Microsoft Azure. Only Microsoft has deep enough expertise with the enterprise datacenter to combine real-world knowledge and experience from cloud deployments. Our Global Foundation Services organization supports over one billion customers and two hundred billion businesses running on Microsoft Cloud Services in 76 markets worldwide. Building on this cloud experience, we are continuing to bring you amazing new things—especially in storage, networking, and identity. And then really the most important piece of all is dynamic application delivery. The goal of creating all this infrastructure is to make you faster and more agile when responding to the needs of the business. That means you need to master automation and use it wherever you can to get routine tasks out of your way. Microsoft lets you provision, deploy, monitor, and manage nearly everything—applications and infrastructure—from a consistent platform across clouds so that you can provide the best possible service to the business. Let’s look in more detail at each of these three areas. Once you have pooled resources or a private cloud in place in your own datacenter, you can take the next step and expand outside the datacenter—connecting to Microsoft Azure or a service provider cloud. This gives you a nearly endless set of resources to draw on as needed. The main question you need to consider is where and when to leverage public cloud resources. Think about workload mobility, workloads with unpredictable demand, or just look at where you could reduce costs with cloud resources. Microsoft Azure offers an ideal platform to extend your own datacenter capacity. You can easily access Azure resources when it makes the most sense for your business: new applications or websites that require global scale in a snap, infrastructure that needs to scale at a moment’s notice to meet the most demanding business requirements, or cloud economics that let you reduce your on-premises costs for storage, backup, and recovery. And you get consistency across clouds so that when you’re taking advantage of the new hybrid model, you’re not adding a lot of complexity to the process. In a recent IDC Cloud Survey, 60 percent* of customers polled said that the cloud solution provider (CSP) they work with needs to be somebody they have a trusted relationship with in order to make them their vendor of choice. In addition, approximately 65 percent also said that the CSP should be able to offer to move their cloud solution back on-premises if needed. Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Services uses the same virtual machine format as Windows Server. Both are running Windows Server 2012, giving you the flexibility to move your workloads where you need them. And unlike other providers, Microsoft charges you only for what you use, by the minute not the hour, and we financially back all of our SLAs. Beyond Microsoft Azure, we want to be sure that there is a robust network of service providers to meet customer needs. To that end, Microsoft recently announced the Cloud OS Network, a network of over 25 leading cloud service providers who have embraced the Cloud OS vision. The Cloud OS vision gives you choice, flexibility, and consistency. Choice: You now have even more choice in deploying your hybrid datacenter environments based on the Microsoft Cloud Platform—in your datacenter, in Microsoft Azure or, now, through a network of leading service provider partners.  Flexibility: The Microsoft Cloud OS Network program extends hybrid solutions through cloud service providers, giving you the flexibility to bridge your on-premises investments with cloud-based deployments. This includes the ability to innovate faster, deliver new services and capabilities, improve employee productivity, and lower costs. Consistency: The Cloud OS Network uniquely enables one consistent platform supporting your hosted datacenter and application needs in an environment built on the Microsoft Cloud Platform (Windows Server with Hyper-V, System Center, and Microsoft Azure Pack). With the ability to take advantage of resources across cloud service providers, Microsoft Azure, and your own datacenter, you have the flexibility to make cloud and datacenter extension work for you. Datacenter without boundaries, cloud innovation everywhere, and dynamic application delivery are the key elements in the Microsoft vision for transforming the datacenter. With this new hybrid infrastructure, Microsoft gives you the speed, scale, cost efficiency, and resilience that you need to keep your business competitive. The capabilities we have just discussed define the modern datacenter. With this new datacenter approach, IT becomes—once again—the first and best provider of technology to the business. Bridging between today’s on-premises deployments and the new cloud offerings, Microsoft’s enterprise-grade technologies offer businesses the clearest way forward. The resources and experience of the past are the foundation for helping your organization navigate the shifting landscape of technology.
• #7: Let’s look at some of the areas where cloud innovation can bring the most benefit to your organization. The main concern we hear from organizations about hybrid cloud is that it will increase cost or create complexity, or both. And it’s certainly true that extending outside the walls of your datacenter brings new challenges. So we’ve selected three areas where we think that innovation can really make a difference: Storage: There are huge opportunities for cost reduction in storage. Virtualization of compute and networking: Network virtualization is critical to connecting across datacenters and across clouds. Identity: This is key for making the hybrid infrastructure work for your users.
• #8: Windows Server 2012 R2 offers storage benefits such as virtualization of storage with commodity storage disks and the tiering of that storage. It also includes the ability to apply hybrid cloud architectures to storage. While overall storage costs continuously increase, the majority of storage needs are for tier 2 or tier 3 lower-priority data, most of it infrequently accessed. This provides the opportunity to take advantage of a combination of enterprise on-premises and public cloud storage—to create a hybrid cloud storage solution. The hybrid cloud storage solution from Microsoft combines Microsoft Azure Storage services with the StorSimple cloud-integrated storage system, providing a blend of benefits that cross the boundaries of traditional storage capabilities. These benefits include: Consolidation of storage infrastructure sprawl through a simple combination of StorSimple systems on-premises and Microsoft Azure storage services Storage TCO reduction of 60 to 80 percent (on average) Faster data protection and disaster recovery with automated cloud snapshots for data backup and disaster recovery via the pulling of data from the cloud only as needed, resulting in much faster than traditional data restore (hours vs. days/weeks) Because of these diverse features, workloads that fit this data usage pattern can have their primary storage, backup, and disaster recovery needs met by one cost-effective solution that reduces the complexity of multi-product, multi-vendor solutions and meets a wide range of storage needs.
• #9: Hyper-V has many advancements in the virtualization of compute. It is truly a market leading virtualization technology. When we look at datacenter transformation, networking is an area with huge potential. Today’s networks can be rigid, meaning that they make it difficult to move workloads within the infrastructure, and network operations involve high levels of manual processes.   As a result, one of the biggest trends today is Software Defined Networking. What exactly does that mean?   Simplify networking (What is SDN?)   In simple terms, Software Defined Networking, or SDN, is network virtualization, a capability that we offer today in Windows Server 2012. How does network virtualization help you simplify? Simplify networking (compute analogy)   Network virtualization does for the network what server virtualization did for compute. It allows you to use software to manage a diverse set of hardware as a single, elastic resource pool.   Simplify networking (pooled resources)   And the benefits are very similar for networking. With compute capacity, we saw earlier with the private cloud model how virtualization gives you increased flexibility in moving workloads and allocating capacity. You get greater efficiency when you have this increased ability to balance the load across your existing resources.   Simplify networking (networking is complicated)   Networking today is complicated because the underlying physical network hardware (such as ports, switches, and routers) tends to require manual configuration. Network operations are often complex since the management interfaces to configure and provision network devices tend to be proprietary; in many cases, network configuration needs to happen on a per-device basis, making it difficult to maintain an end-to-end operational view of your network.   Simplify networking (virtualized network)   With a virtualized network infrastructure, you can control the building of the network, configuration, and traffic routing using software. You can manage your network infrastructure as a unified whole, and that allows you to do three very important things: you can isolate what you need to isolate, you can move what you need to move, and you can build connections between your datacenter and cloud resources.   Simplify networking (isolate)   So let’s first talk about isolation. We’ve talked a lot about the importance of a unified resource pool, but there are many reasons why you might want to create divisions or partitions within that pool. For example, you might want to separate individual departments. As companies increasingly rely on central datacenters to support global operations, you might also want to separate geographical regions. Today, some companies create separate areas for physical servers, designated to particular geographies, within the datacenter. But that isn’t a very efficient usage model, and it doesn’t give you many options if that set of servers experiences problems. With network virtualization, or Software Defined Networking, you can create boundaries within the datacenter to enable multi-tenancy and keep workloads isolated from each other without placing them in separate hardware pools.   What else can you do with a virtualized network infrastructure?   Simplify networking (move)   In the past, individual workloads were pretty tightly coupled to the underlying physical network infrastructure. That meant that moving workloads within the datacenter required extensive manual reconfiguration. Network virtualization lets you move workloads even from one datacenter to another because the control plane for the network is all handled through software. We have a number of features in Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 that combine to make that process even easier.   Simplify networking (connect to clouds)   And finally, Software Defined Networking lets you connect easily to clouds outside your datacenter. It allows you to treat cloud resources as an extension of your own infrastructure. So in a way, you could say that SDN and network virtualization are the keys to hybrid. That’s why we continue to invest so heavily in this area, and that’s why we offer all of these features in the box. Finally, we understand that SDN is going to require cooperation across a broad ecosystem of partners. Microsoft recently announced a partnership with Cisco, which will allow us to more tightly integrate Cisco’s Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) solutions with Microsoft’s virtualization platform. Over time, we are investing to make SDN simpler and more accessible for customers.
• #10: For identity and access, the breakthrough is an increased ability to maintain a single identity across multiple clouds. Continuous services and connected devices present a real challenge, with users expecting more and more from IT in terms of simple and fast access to resources and data. Microsoft offers multiple options in this area, including the advances in identity management in both Windows Server 2012 Active Directory and Microsoft Azure Active Directory. Cloud-based identity that integrates with your existing Active Directory solution will allow tremendous flexibility in building single sign-on capabilities across your cloud deployments. This is the identity platform you know, reinvented for cloud. [Optional technical examples] In Windows Server 2012 R2, Microsoft has enhanced Active Directory in a number of ways: Run Active Directory at scale with support for virtualization and rapid deployment through domain controller cloning. Virtualizing Active Directory in the past has been challenging, and was fraught with potential issues when administrators used common virtualization platform management tasks such as snapshots. Active Directory has been updated to be “virtualization aware” and to respond accordingly. Take advantage of cloud platforms to run Windows Server Active Directory and Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) to reduce infrastructure on-premises. Microsoft supports running domain controllers and AD FS on Microsoft Azure IaaS, connected back on-premises via the Azure Connect bridge. This makes it easier and faster for you to connect and authenticate cloud based users, devices, and applications. Developers can integrate applications for single sign-on across on-premises and cloud-based applications, providing a more productive experience for users and an easier way for businesses to manage the identity of users within these applications. Microsoft Azure Active Directory Microsoft Azure Active Directory (WAAD) works fluidly with Windows Active Directory to easily extend an organization’s Active Directory into the Microsoft Azure cloud. Providing cloud-based identity through Microsoft Azure Active Directory enables you to use it as the central authentication endpoint for all users and devices outside of the corporate environment, and cloud or hybrid applications. Microsoft Azure Active Directory may be the authoritative authentication directory, or the user validation and device verification can be checked through federated connections to other directories such as on-premises Active Directory, partners, or other cloud-based identity repositories. Active Directory Federation Services In Windows Server 2012 R2, there are significant enhancements to Active Directory Federation Services, including simplified deployment and management. Furthermore, organizations can federate with partners and other organizations for seamless access to shared resources, allowing administrators to authenticate users from federated organizations, and organizations can connect to SaaS applications running in Microsoft Azure, Office 365, and third-party providers, giving users a single sign-on experience.
• #11: The migration process will follow four key steps. We will cover them briefly here.
• #12: The first step is to discover and catalog all of the software and workloads that are running on Windows Server 2003/R2. Do you have a good grasp on exactly what is still running on Windows Server 2003/R2? A thorough discovery process is essential because you cannot address the problem if you do not know what the problem is. There are several self-service tools that can help with the discovery process. For example, the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit, a free downloadable tool from Microsoft, provides you with a secure, agentless, and network-wide inventory that scales from small businesses to large enterprises. You can use the MAP Toolkit to collect and organize system-wide information from a single, networked computer. Third-party discovery products are also available for purchase, including Dell’s ChangeBASE and Lakeside Software’s SysTrack. System integrators also offer services for the discovery phase. Microsoft Services offers JumpStart for Windows Server 2003, which includes discovery. Other Microsoft partner service providers have similar offerings.
• #13: At this point, the process may look something like this for your migration.
• #14: Once you have a catalog, you will need to assess what is in that catalog. This means categorizing your applications and workloads in several ways and doing a thorough analysis of what is there. We suggest you consider categorizing your applications and workloads in four ways: By type: Microsoft Server Roles, Microsoft Applications, Custom Applications, and Third-party Applications By criticality: Can Be Retired, Marginal, Important, and Mission Critical By complexity: Low, Medium, and High By risk: Low, Medium, and High With this categorization complete, you can begin to understand the scope of the problem and can prioritize your workloads and applications. The categorization will also reveal some potential opportunities, as well as potential issues. The criticality category, for example, might raise concerns about what to migrate when and in what order. The complexity and cost categories will indicate which migrations might be the easiest and quickest to accomplish. A cross-category analysis provides even more insight. For example, an important application with low complexity and only medium risk might be a good candidate for early migration.
• #15: At this point, the process may have provided additional information that looks something like this.
• #16: You must choose a migration destination for each application and workload. There are four destinations for migration: Windows Server 2012 R2 Microsoft Azure Cloud OS Network Office 365 Different workloads and applications will logically lead to certain targets. Others could offer the possibility of migration to one or more of these destinations. The choice will be driven by factors such as speed and ease of migration, cost, and desired functionality in the migrated solution.
• #17: Windows Server has seen many advancements in the past 10 years, and today the current version is Windows Server 2012 R2. Enterprise-class scale and performance Windows Server 2003 R2 Scales to 64 logical processors and 1 terabyte of memory (x64 versions) Windows Server 2012 R2 Scales to 320 logical processors and 4 terabytes of physical memory (x64 versions) Scales to 64 logical processors and 1 terabyte of memory on a virtual machine Supports up to 64 nodes and 8,000 virtual machines in a cluster Shared nothing live migration with Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) Windows Server 2003 R2 Not available Windows Server 2012 R2 Enables migration of virtual machines among Hyper-V hosts on different clusters or servers with no storage sharing, using Ethernet connection only—with virtually no downtime Offers faster live migration among Hyper-V hosts by establishing an efficient memory-to-memory transfer of data using RDMA Hyper-V Network Virtualization Windows Server 2003 R2 Not available Windows Server 2012 R2 Enables isolation of network traffic from different business units or customers on a shared infrastructure, with reduced need for virtual local area networks (VLANs) Enables moving of virtual machines as needed within virtual infrastructure, while preserving virtual network assignments Performs site-to-site (VPN), NAT, and forwarding functions with an in-the-box multitenant gateway Makes full management of HNV gateway possible through System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager Supports guest clustering for high availability Low-cost, highly available file-based storage Windows Server 2003 R2 Not available Windows Server 2012 R2 Offers new SMB 3.0 protocol enhancements and low-cost, “commodity” hardware with new File Services for storing server application data such as SQL databases and VHDs for Hyper-V on file shares Automatically rebalances Scale-Out File Server clients Tracks SMB client connections per file share, and then redirect clients to the cluster node with the best access to the volume used by the file share Enables leveraging of commodity storage into virtual storage pools, which can then be provisioned as Storage Spaces Provides virtualized drives that can be formatted and accessed just like a physical drive, which can also be dynamically resized with the addition of more physical drives to the storage pool Includes storage tiers, write-back cache, parity space support for failover clusters, dual parity, and the ability to automatically rebuild storage spaces from storage pool free space Backup and recovery Windows Server 2003 R2 The backup utility (Backup) in Windows Server 2003 helps back up directories, selected files, and system state data, including Windows Server 2003 operating system registry information (very simple utility) Windows Server 2012 R2 Provides a set of wizards and other tools to perform basic backup and recovery tasks for the server it is installed on Windows Server Backup role in Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 has the following enhanced features: Ability to back up and restore individual virtual machines from a Hyper-V host server Improvements to managing backup versions and backup retention Ability to back up volumes greater than 2 terabytes and with 4-KB sector sizes Support for backup of Cluster Shared Volumes (CSVs) Ability to report system state components Hyper-V supports incremental backup (backing up only the differences) of virtual hard disks while the virtual machine is running Microsoft Azure Online Backup (cloud-based backup service) offers offsite protection against data loss from failure with a cloud-based backup solution, which allows files and folders to be backed up and recovered from the cloud (Microsoft Azure Backup Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831419.aspx%20) Hybrid applications Windows Server 2003 R2 Requires virtual private networks (VPNs) or other form of point-to-point connectivity for communication among geographically separated parts of an application Windows Server 2012 R2 Protects existing investments in on-premises applications Unifies application management Provides flexibility to build and deploy hybrid applications on-premises and in the cloud Provides a common development environment for .NET developers to build cloud (Azure) and on-premises applications Windows PowerShell 4.0 Windows Server 2003 R2 Provides more than 100 cmdlets Windows Server 2012 R2 Provides more than 3,000 cmdlets in over 100 modules and includes several significant features that enable easier and more comprehensive control and management of Windows-based environments Enables the deployment and management of configuration data for software services and the environment in which these services run through Desired State Configuration (DSC) Simplified, feature-rich Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Windows Server 2003 R2 Not available Windows Server 2012 R2 Provides simplified wizard-based setup procedures for Remote Desktop Services deployment Includes a unified management console for virtual desktops, session-based desktops, and applications Simplifies the creation, assignment, and patch management of pooled and personal virtual desktops and provides a richer experience on different devices, in various locations, and over changing network conditions Provides online storage deduplication and session shadowing
• #18: Microsoft Azure also offers some key benefits to consider. Without additional capital expenditures, you can have the IT capacity you need when you need it. Your costs move to a predictable and steady (and likely lower cost) operational expenses model instead of to an unstable capital expenses model.
• #19: Office 365 provides integrated and rapid deployment or migration and easy management of Exchange, SharePoint, and Lync. This will often be the quickest and most direct route to migration from older versions of these applications.
• #20: The Cloud OS Network is a worldwide consortium of cloud service providers who have embraced the Cloud OS vision. These organizations offer solutions based on the Microsoft Cloud Platform designed to meet your business needs. Members of this network combine industry-leading Microsoft technology with their hosting and geographic expertise to provide you full flexibility and choice for your hybrid datacenter solution. Combined, these partners serve over 90 markets around the world, operate over 2.4 million servers in more than 425 datacenters, and serve over 3 million customers every day. You get three key benefits when consuming services from a Microsoft Cloud OS Network partner: Choice: You now have even more choice in deploying your hybrid datacenter environments based on the Microsoft Cloud Platform: in your datacenter, in Microsoft Azure, or now through a network of leading service provider partners.  Flexibility: The Microsoft Cloud OS Network program extends hybrid solutions through cloud service providers, giving you the flexibility to bridge your on-premises investments with cloud-based deployments. This includes the ability to innovate faster, deliver new services and capabilities, improve employee productivity, and lower costs. Consistency: The Microsoft Cloud OS Network uniquely enables one consistent platform to support your hosted datacenter and application needs in an environment built on the Microsoft Cloud Platform (that includes Windows Server with Hyper-V, System Center, and Microsoft Azure Pack). As cloud adoption accelerates and competition increases, the ability for cloud service providers to differentiate is paramount. By taking advantage of the Microsoft Cloud Platform, our partners can focus on building value-add and differentiated services, taking them to market faster and solving the hybrid cloud needs of their customers.
• #21: If you are not looking at cloud options and want to maintain Windows Server on-premises, some hardware upgrades are likely. Windows Server 2003/R2 instances may be running on older hardware. You should factor purchase lead time for hardware into their migration time estimates for any on-premises upgrades you want to consider. Windows Server 2012 R2 has the following minimum hardware requirements: Processor: 1.4 GHz 64-bit RAM: 512 MB  Disk space: 32 GB But finding a server on the market today with such low specs is nearly impossible. And most customers will likely want a larger configuration than the minimum. Today’s hardware has capacity far beyond the hardware of 2003, and it’s also more expandable. Having the extra capacity on board or even being able to add it on the fly means being able to add resources like needed memory without having to add additional full machines (which was often the case in 2003). Adding virtualization makes this advantage even more pronounced. You should also consider virtualization on Hyper-V in your migration plans. Hyper-V virtualization will allow you to more fully utilize hardware investments and will ease management overhead.
• #22: There are five key server roles to consider for migration from Windows Server 2003/R2: File Server Web Server Active Directory Domain Controller Terminal Services Server roles are the some of the easiest (File Server) and potentially some of the hardest (Active Directory) migration scenarios. Only a thorough analysis of what exists today and what the desired end state is will show exactly what effort is needed to migrate these roles off Windows Server 2003/R2. For an interesting perspective, see http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/42070a54-a907-4526-b35c-6d6837f37a4e/migration-plan-for-windows-server-2003-to-windows-server-2012
• #23: For file servers, migrate the data to supported file servers (Windows Server 2012 R2) or to either Azure IaaS or Azure Storage. If you are migrating on-premises and running any hypervisor besides Hyper-V, we recommend a migration to Hyper-V at the same time. Hyper-V is free with Windows Server 2012 R2, and it is a leading enterprise-level hypervisor. The Cloud OS Network is also an option to consider.
• #24: For web servers, migrate to Windows Server 2012 R2 running either on-premises (note the need for new hardware and the possibility of virtualization) or on Azure IaaS. If you are migrating on-premises and running any hypervisor besides Hyper-V, we recommend a migration to Hyper-V at the same time. Hyper-V is free with Windows Server 2012 R2, and it is a leading enterprise-level hypervisor. The Cloud OS Network is also an option to consider. You can also migrate to the Azure Web Sites service; this option may offer you the fastest route for migration.
• #25: For Active Directory, migrate to Windows Server 2012 R2 running either on-premises (note the need for new hardware and the possibility of virtualization) or on Azure IaaS. If you are migrating on-premises and running any hypervisor besides Hyper-V, we recommend a migration to Hyper-V at the same time. Hyper-V is free with Windows Server 2012 R2, and it is a leading enterprise-level hypervisor. The Cloud OS Network is also an option to consider. You should also consider Azure Active Directory and federation or synchronization. Active Directory has advanced substantially since 2003, and you will need to spend some time planning an Active Directory migration if you are still running Active Directory on a Windows Server 2003/R2 infrastructure.
• #26: Terminal Services should be migrated to Windows Server 2012 R2 running either on-premises (note the need for new hardware and the possibility of virtualization) or on Azure IaaS. If you are migrating on-premises and running any hypervisor besides Hyper-V, we recommend a migration to Hyper-V at the same time. Hyper-V is free with Windows Server 2012 R2, and it is a leading enterprise-level hypervisor. On-premises supports the full Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Azure supports Session Host running Remote Desktop Services. The Cloud OS Network is also an option to consider.
• #27: Windows Server 2003 may also be acting as a server for your non-Web applications using .NET, Java or native platforms. Migration options start with a straight migration to Windows Server 2012 R2 running physical, virtualized or on Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines IaaS service. Other options include rewriting all or part of the application to take advantage of Microsoft Azure PaaS (Platform as a Service) capabilities or to identify a vendor providing equivalent capabilities in their application offered as a SaaS (Software as a Service) offering.
• #28: Custom and third-party applications can be migrated to Windows Server 2012 R2 running either on-premises (note the need for new hardware and the possibility of virtualization) or on Azure IaaS. If you are migrating on-premises and running any hypervisor besides Hyper-V, we recommend a migration to Hyper-V at the same time. Hyper-V is free with Windows Server 2012 R2, and it is a leading enterprise-level hypervisor. The Cloud OS Network is also an option to consider. You can also potentially migrate to the Azure PaaS offering or to a Software as a Service replacement for the application.
• #29: Third-party and custom applications both have similar considerations. Third-party applications are most likely to be run on-premises. Too many factors exist out of the control of the providers of IaaS solutions for them to support these applications. Some third-party application vendors also offer SaaS options for their products now, which is potentially the fastest and easiest option for migration. Microsoft Azure also offers the ability, through the Certified for Microsoft Azure program, for independent software vendors (ISVs) to certify their applications to run as SaaS offerings on Microsoft Azure. See the Certified for Microsoft Azure site for more information. If you are stuck with a critical application that only runs on Windows Server 2003/R2 and the third-party ISV is still in business, there may be another option. Microsoft recently introduced the ISV Upgrade Campaign. You can explore whether this campaign can help the ISV update the application to run on Windows Server 2012 R2. Custom applications are potentially among the most complex migration scenarios (they can also be the most simple migration scenarios—it depends entirely on the application). They should be reduced in number as much as possible during the DISCOVER and ASSESS cycles. The following are two key options: Custom applications have a reputation for being poorly documented, which can make them economically unfeasible to update. They may need to be rewritten if there is not a packaged application or service that provides the same functionality and can serve as a migration target. One final consideration with custom applications is to virtualize them. On-premises or IaaS (especially Microsoft Azure IaaS) virtualization may enable you to focus on application updates instead of dividing attention between that and the underlying infrastructure when updating the application.
• #30: The three key Microsoft applications and technologies likely to be considered for migration are covered in this section. We will look at options and considerations for each.
• #31: To consider an on-premises migration, you will need to consider which version of SQL Server you have and if that version will run on Windows Server 2012 R2. More information on compatibility and migrations can be found on MSDN. You may also want to consider updating SQL Server itself because substantial new features have been added and improvements made to SQL Server over the years. The migration paths for on-premises deployment are as follows: SQL Server 2000 -> Migrate to SQL Server 2012 via SQL Server 2008 SQL Server 2005 -> Upgrade to SP4, and then migrate to SQL Server 2014 SQL Server 2008 -> Upgrade to SP3 or later, and then migrate to SQL Server 2014 SQL Server 2008 R2 -> Upgrade to SP1 or later, and then migrate to SQL Server 2014 Virtualizing an on-premises SQL Server deployment may offer the most flexibility and ease of migration for your SQL Server instances. The virtualized SQL Server instances provided by Azure IaaS are also an option to consider. The biggest consideration with this target is that applications using SQL Server may need to be refactored to run in a cloud environment. The Cloud OS Network is also an option to consider. Finally, SQL Server running on Windows Server 2003/R2 can be migrated to the Azure PaaS offering, Microsoft Azure SQL Database. This service offers substantial convenience and scalability, but any applications using SQL Server will require refactoring to run in this environment.
• #32: To consider an on-premises migration, you will need to consider which version of Exchange Server you have and if that version will run on Windows Server 2012 R2. More information on compatibility can be found on MSDN. You may also want to consider updating Exchange Server itself because substantial new features have been added and improvements made to Exchange Server over the years. This includes changes in the architecture for Exchange deployments. This new architecture as well as the overall sophistication of Exchange Server requires planning to achieve the best results. An Exchange Server deployment is not trivial, and planning one requires both infrastructure and Exchange Server expertise. For an Exchange Server on-premises deployment, note that virtualizing Exchange Server is not considered an Exchange Server best practice. Exchange Server migration options for on-premises deployment are as follows: Exchange Server 2000 -> Upgrade to Exchange Server 2007 SP3 RU10, and then migrate to Exchange Server 2013 Exchange Server 2003 -> Upgrade to Exchange Server 2010 SP3 CU2, and then migrate to Exchange Server 2013 Exchange Server 2007 -> Upgrade to SP3 CU2, and then migrate to Exchange Server 2013 Migrating Exchange Server to an infrastructure as a service offering (such as Microsoft Azure IaaS or the Cloud OS Network) presents the same challenges as an on-premises deployment. Additional issues may arise with running Exchange Server in the virtualized environments used in most IaaS offerings. Exchange Server on a virtualized IaaS infrastructure is supported if the hypervisor used is supported, but there are numerous potential pitfalls that must be considered and planned around. One of the best options for migrating Exchange Server off Windows Server 2003/R2 is Office 365, a cloud-based service designed to meet organizational needs for robust security, reliability, and user productivity. Office 365 Exchange Online, the Microsoft-hosted messaging service in the cloud that follows Exchange best practices, will likely provide the fastest and easiest option for migration. It will reduce your planning costs and may lead to overall cost savings because of savings in hardware capital expenditures and ongoing operations costs.
• #33: To consider an on-premises migration, you will need to consider which version of SharePoint Server you have and if that version will run on Windows Server 2012 R2. More information on compatibility can be found on MSDN. Windows SharePoint Services was part of Windows Server 2003/R2, and it must be either retired or its functionality migrated to SharePoint Server or to some other target. You may also want to consider updating SharePoint Server itself because substantial improvements have been made to SharePoint Server over the years. SharePoint Server 2013 also introduces a new, more robust application architecture. You should consider this change an opportunity to reduce the number of SharePoint Server custom applications or refactor them for the new architecture. Migrating SharePoint Server to an infrastructure as a service offering (such as Microsoft Azure IaaS or the Cloud OS Network) presents the same challenges as an on-premises deployment—without the need to worry about new hardware. Azure IaaS is especially suited to hosting SharePoint Server, and hybrid cloud deployments that combine Azure IaaS with on-premises deployments are also possible. One of the best options for migrating SharePoint Server and Windows SharePoint Services functionality off Windows Server 2003/R2 is Office 365. A move to Office 365 for SharePoint will likely provide the fastest and easiest option for migration. It will reduce your customers’ planning costs and may lead to overall cost savings because of savings in hardware capital expenditures and ongoing operations costs.
• #34: Your plan might look something like this now. And now it’s time to make some decisions and get moving.
• #35: With an understanding of what is still running on Widows Server 2003, what needs to migrate when, and where to migrate to, you can make a plan and begin to migrate. But arriving at this state (that is, making these choices) may require some additional analysis and perhaps assistance. The migration itself can be facilitated by both third-party products and services. Several vendors offer do-it-yourself tools to assist in the decision-making process and in the migration itself. Some examples are Dell’s ChangeBASE, Citrix’s AppDNA, and AppZero. System integrators also offer services for migration. The previously mentioned Microsoft Services JumpStart for Windows Server 2003 is one such offering, and several other Microsoft system integrator partners have migration offerings as well.
• #36: Now is the time to migrate. These resources can help you get started: Migration website Windows Server 2012 R2 Microsoft Azure Office 365