{"id":19901,"date":"2023-07-18T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-18T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2024-06-07T10:54:47","modified_gmt":"2024-06-07T17:54:47","slug":"new-options-for-windows-server-2012-r2-end-of-support-from-azure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/windows-server\/blog\/2023\/07\/18\/new-options-for-windows-server-2012-r2-end-of-support-from-azure\/","title":{"rendered":"New options for Windows Server 2012\/R2 end of support from Azure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As organizations are eager to adopt the latest technological advancements in AI and cloud-native services, they continue to trust Windows Server as the secure and foundational platform for their mission-critical workloads. This July, we are celebrating an incredible 30-year anniversary of Windows Server! We’re grateful for all the support of our customers who have helped us continually evolve Windows Server over the years, and we continue to innovate with new features that will meet the needs of our customers today and in the years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Options to stay protected for Windows Server 2012\/R2 end of support <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As new features and functionality light up the latest versions of our server offerings such as Windows Server 2022<\/a> and SQL Server 2022<\/a>, we want to remind organizations that support for Windows Server 2012\/R2 is coming to an end on October 10, 2023. After the end of support date, Windows Server 2012\/R2 workloads will be vulnerable as they will no longer receive regular security updates. Organizations can remain protected by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Modernizing to a PaaS platform<\/a>\u202fsuch as\u202fAzure SQL Managed Instance<\/a>\u202for\u202fAzure App Service<\/a>\u202fto always stay up-to-date, or upgrading to the latest version in Azure. With a PaaS platform, customers can fully offload management tasks in the cloud, so teams can focus on delivering innovative apps and experiences for their businesses.\u202f\u202f <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Migrating to Azure \u202ffor free\u202fExtended Security Updates<\/a>. This includes options such as\u202fAzure Virtual Machines<\/a>,\u202fAzure Dedicated Host<\/a>,\u202fAzure VMware Solution<\/a>, and\u202fAzure Stack HCI<\/a>. Combining this with\u202fAzure Hybrid Benefit<\/a>\u202fand consumption models such as\u202freserved instances<\/a>\u202for\u202fsavings plan for compute<\/a>\u202fallows even more savings in Azure for Windows Server and SQL Server.\u202f <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Purchasing Extended Security Updates to remain protected on premises and in multi cloud environments.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    We know that organizations often heavily weigh the best path to modernization, with many factors to consider. In this post, we\u2019ll explore two new options from Azure Migrate<\/a>\u202fand Azure Arc<\/a>\u202fto protect end of support workloads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Migrate and upgrade Windows Server 2012\/R2 with Azure Migrate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    If an organization is considering modernizing and migrating to Azure, the first step should be to assess their environment and build a migration business case with\u202fAzure Migrate<\/a>. This free tool provides technical insights into workloads and cost estimates for moving to Azure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We\u2019re excited to announce that Azure Migrate now supports in-place upgrades of Windows Server 2012 and later versions, during the move to Azure. Organizations can now elect to move their legacy applications and databases to a fully supported, compatible, and compliant operating system such as Windows Server 2016, 2019, or 2022. Organizations can also avoid downtime by first upgrading to a test environment in Azure and running production workloads in parallel to confirm functionality and compatibility, before fully moving to Azure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    With this new feature, organizations can avoid Windows Server 2012\/R2 end of support and accomplish their modernization and migration goals in one motion. Learn more about this feature in Azure Migrate\u202fhere<\/a>.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Stay protected in on-premises and multicloud environments with Extended Security Updates enabled by Azure Arc <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    For organizations who aren\u2019t able to modernize or migrate prior to the Windows Server 2012\/R2 end of support date this October, Microsoft is announcing Extended Security Updates enabled by Azure Arc<\/a>. With Azure Arc, organizations will be able to purchase and seamlessly deploy Extended Security Updates in on-premises or multicloud environments, right from the Azure portal. Extended Security Updates enabled by Azure Arc also gives more flexibility with a pay-as-you-go subscription model. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here are the key benefits: <\/p>\n\n\n\n