2 Practical Options for Dealing with Windows Server 2003’s End of Life

RIP The Sun Sets on a Reliable & Useful Friend Windows Server 2003 (WS 2003) will soon reach its end of life (EOL). Windows Server 2003 Installs to Date April 2003 BORN Microsoft launched 23,500,000 Windows Server 2003 Instances of the OS World Wide March LEARNED TO WALK 11,900,000 2005 wS 2003 learned 1,012 new tricks with Service Physical servers running the OS Pack 1. 380,000 Physical servers running the OS in Canada March GRADUATION 2007 The last new tricks (703 of them) were released with Service Pack 2 Versions included in End of Life Windows Windows Windows Windows Server Server Server Server 2003 2003 2003 2003 Itanium Cluster х32 EDITION х64 EDITION July 2010 RETIREMENT EDITION EDITION Microsoft ends mainstream support but continues security updates. Windows Windows Windows Server Server Server 2003 2003 2003 Datacenter Web EDITION Enterprise EDITION EDITION Windows Server 2003 Official End of Life Date July 2015 RIP DEATH 44 JUL 2 0 15 Farewell WS 2003. Unless you pay the $600 per server support fee this is goodbye. After July 14, 2015 Microsoft will no longer provide security patches for Windows Server 2003. For those organizations that rely on legacy software or have other reasons to continue use of Windows Server 2003 you can pay a hefty $600 per instance for support. Every year after that the support fee will increase. July 2016+ AFTERLIFE You can use WS 2003 beyond the grave but it will cost you $600+ for continued support. So you want to stick with Windows Server 2003? Think again! Unpatched Vulnerabilities Old Malware Not anly will you need to be aware of new threats but also the old updated.ones. This will only get worse as Ws 2003 is targeted after July 14, 2015 by hackers. Those responsible for their WS 2003 know that security patches are frequent. As annoying as the updates can be it will be even more annoying once they stop. 5 THREATS of running Compliance Violation Preventable security threats can bring with it large fines for companies that have certain requirements. WS 2003 Compatibility Issues after EOL These can will likely occur between WS 2003, hardware, The Floodgates and applications. Eventually companies running this outdated OS will be put into an An insecure version of WS 2003 could make an otherwise IT competitive disadvantage. secure environment vulnerable. What to do after WS 2003 EOL As a Canadian cloud service provider here's what we (NIRIX) did when faced with Windows Server 2003 end of life. When we weighed the pros and cons we opted to update all our Windows 2003 servers. Since this is a service we provide at scale, it only made sense that the headaches of not updating would also be at scale. Here are two options that we recommend when considering Windows Server 2003's imminent end of life. Option 1 Option 2 Sources used in this infographic Update Windows Server 2003 Consider Cloud Alternatives This option is a good for those that have http://www.nirix.com/blog/overcom When considering the costs and resources needed to upgrade your Windows Server 2003 machines it is worthwhile to consider e-5-threats-as-windows-server-200 the capital available and can spare the 3-nears-its-end-of-life/ IT professionals for the project. the benefits of comparable cloud services. v Ultimate control over your server. https://support.microsoft.com/en-u s/lifecycle/search/default.aspx?sort =PN&alpha=Windows%20server% Reduced upfront cost. X High upfront costs. X Responsible for hardware and Alleviates strain on in-house IT resources like personnel and 202003&Filter=FilterNO software maintenance. hardware. X Some legacy applications may not be compatible. X Complex server updates and v Services tend to be easy to scale. Minimal software management. https://support.microsoft.com/en-u s/kb/824721 No hardware maintenance. Services tend to help with Data https://support.microsoft.com/en-u migrations can be outside your organization's expertise. X Requires IT support either in-house or external. X Vulnerable to on-site disasters or migration. v Security often surpasses s/kb/914962 organization's on-site server security due to third party certification and compliance. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/t echnology/tech-news/microsoft-ur ges-companies-to-upgrade-old-ser vers-warns-of-cyber-dangers/articl interruptions. X Freeing up capital and your IT professionals to implement the Datacenters tend to have redundancy for internet connections e23800221/ upgrade can be tricky at best. and power sources. Off-site data protection. http://www.datacenterknowledge.c om/archives/2014/09/12/ditching- X Some legacy applications may not be windows-server-2003-necessary-e compatible. X Some server control may not be asy/ available. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/ 02/16/windows_server 2003 600 d X No access to hardware. X Cloud systems rely heavily on internet connectivity. ollars/$600/server Considering cloud services? Visit www.nirix.com. NIRIX Computing Differently. >>>>