Windows 2008 r2 why upgrade

If you are going to go up to Windows Server , this will be yet another additional upgrade. Keep this in mind when upgrading as each upgrade in the path means downtime. IT admins have so many more options and possibilities than years gone by when thinking about Windows Server upgrades. The public cloud has become the driving force behind IT operations today. This is accomplished using the Azure Site Recovery tool.

This allows easily and painlessly getting even larger VMs replicated up to the Azure cloud. With the capabilities of Azure Site Recovery, you have choices with your upgrade. There are a couple of configurations with Windows Server that you may need to be aware of that will no doubt present challenges with an upgrade.

Windows Server was the last Windows Server operating system to offer a bit version of the install. Some businesses a few years back went with bit installations on some Windows Server servers due to legacy application requirements or simply because the bit version was installed instead of the bit version.

This will present a challenge to your upgrade plan since you will not be able to perform an in-place upgrade of a bit platform to a bit platform. Keeping your Windows Server platforms in a supported condition is extremely important from both a security and supportability standpoint.

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Options for Upgrading Windows Server R2. A few basic universal steps must always be taken to ensure migration success: Analyze existing applications, workloads, and users and the resources required for migration. Pinpoint your legacy customized or internally developed applications that may complicate migration. Determine the optimal destination for each application and workload. Will it require application software upgrade or utilization of cloud services?

How will it differ following the migration? Organize the systems to be migrated. Prioritize by complexity and investment to move them to the desired OS, taking into account the number of employees utilizing them and relationship to business revenue. Create a comprehensive backup plan for data protection and security during the migration process. For an upgrade, you want to select Upgrade: Install Windows and keep files, settings, and applications. Otherwise, you will be performing a clean server installation that will erase your data.

The upgrade installer will present a warning of sorts on the Compatibility report. Basically, it states you need to verify compatibility with your applications on Windows Server R2 since this is the destination after the upgrade process finishes.

After a final reboot, the server will boot to the very familiar Windows Server R2 login screen. The process is the same for this portion of the upgrade. Simply mount the Windows Server media and run the installer. As a note, I am using the Windows Server Preview media and this worked just fine. Enter your product key. The product key below is the publicly available key that is documented here: KMS client setup keys Microsoft Docs.

On the Choose what to keep screen, choose the Keep files, settings, and apps. After a moment, the installer will be Ready to install. Click Install. In just a short amount of time, I had the Windows Server login screen displaying. Of course, I had no data really or any applications installed.

As you upgrade, you still have the option to migrate to Azure by rehosting. See supported upgrade paths for Windows Server , for more information about your on-premises upgrade options. If you are running Windows Server , you will need to upgrade to Windows Server See upgrade paths for Windows Server for more information about your on-premises upgrade options. In Azure you'll stay compliant, become more secure, and add cloud innovation to your work.

The benefits of migrating to Azure include:.