How to Modernize Windows Server and SQL Server 2008?

Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 are the two most popular Microsoft servers and database management systems. They are ten years old and the security updates for these servers are ending soon. As per Microsoft announcement, security updates for SQL Server 2008 will end on July 2019 and Security updates for Windows Server 2008 will end on Jan 14, 2020.

So, organizations that are using these servers for their business operations would like to migrate away from these servers and there are a number of options to complete the process successfully in the market. In this article, we will discuss a few upgrades and migration options for those organizations that are looking for a better platform.

Modernizing Windows Server 2008

There are mainly two migration paths available, first is the on-premise upgrade and second is the re-hosting in Azure. For Azure migration, you can do it free of charge. If your servers are on your premise and running Windows 2008, then you can upgrade it to the Windows Server 2016. For this purpose, you will have to follow the complete migration guide as given by Microsoft. Still, you can migrate to Azure as well by re-hosting.

On-Premise Migration

Upgrading is the best option to preserve system settings. So, for many applications, on-premise up-gradation is the most optimum choice. But one cannot directly upgrade to Windows Server 2016 without performing the installation. To preserve the system settings, one must upgrade firstly to Windows Server 2012 before installing 2016. You must also back up the existing environment to handle the worst issues if they arise later.

Enroll for the Update Program with Extended Security

For larger clusters, the one-time upgrade is quite impossible, so for those systems, Microsoft offers a separate service. For the hardware that cannot be upgraded at one time, Microsoft offers an Extended Security Update program for the same.

This program that is offered by Microsoft is the replacement for the old Premium Assurance program. The premium assurance once offered has six years of support, while the Extended Security Update comes with three years support at a reduced cost. For this service, the license can be purchased on the per-device basis that may cover only machines, especially those that may need extended support and protection. The cost of this license for the update is 75% of the cost of the full license. This service is billed annually that can be canceled at any time.

Azure Cloud Migration

The organizations that do not want to keep the applications on-premise and are not concerned with the bandwidth, they can migrate to the cloud easily and it is the solid option for everyone.

The available cloud that can be chosen by the organizations is Microsoft Azure. Azure offers a number of performance plans and in this migration, the initial OS setup is instantaneous through which DevOps professionals can easily and quickly set up the test environment. High availability and high-redundancy make Azure the perfect platform for backup and disaster recovery.

Apart from Azure there are other cloud platforms also available in the market and they are Amazon Web Service and Google Cloud Platforms and they are equally capable and have many options and advantages. Among all of them, only Azure offers Extended Security Updates at no cost so is considered as the best choice for Upgrade and migration.

Here, this is also true that the organizations that have on-premise hardware can also take advantage of cloud platform by extending certain workloads onto the cloud. The tangible benefits for such organizations are the expansion of mail server, improved backup, redundancy, and optimum testing environment etc.

Migration of SQL Server 2008 to SQL Server 2017 Version

If you are using Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and want to migrate to SQL Server 2017 database, then you should follow a specific procedure to migrate to the latest server platform. Also, if you don’t know why should you migrate then go through the reasons given below for a clear idea.

• It supports graph database structures and python code can also be integrated.
• It uses a new security feature that is known as CLR Strict Security
• It supports advanced functions like STRING_AGG, TRIM etc.
• It offers new storage features and hardware.

SQL Server migrations can be done in two ways as given below, you can follow any of them:

Migration through SQL Server Management Studio

For this type of migration, you must have SQL Server Management Studio that has to be connected to Source Server. Then through your existing database that has the Generate Scripts option, you can perform and complete the migration. Here by selecting all of your existing database objects. Now, save scripts and execute them then you can Finish the complete migration process.

Migration through SysTools SQL Server Database Migrator

As manual migration process is quite long and may require complete information of terms and services that may be difficult to manage by any novice user. Moreover, any mishandling of the instruction can terminate the complete migration task. So, the user can take advantage of automated solutions for the migration process.

So, by using the system utility, SysTools SQL Database Migration Tool user can easily move a database from SQL Server 2008 to the latest SQL Server 2017. This tool is capable in itself to migrate complete database automatically. Moreover, this tool has wide support for Windows operating system.

Final Words

Microsoft offers 10 years of support and 5 years of extended support for Windows and SQL Server and it is assumed that after the end of this support there will not be any further support for these versions. So, organizations can upgrade to Windows 2018 or SQL 2018 at any point in time. For on-premise Windows upgrade, the user can use the Extended Security Updates, while other organizations that have no bandwidth issue can use Azure cloud service and upgrade their existing system.

For SQL Server 2008, the same problem of no support may occur for the organizations. As no support and feature are provided to SQL Server 2008, so one can migrate to SQL Server 2017 version. Here, we have listed two most used ways that are used for this migration and one can use any one of these ways to perform the complete migration successfully. Where manual migration is difficult and time-consuming process, the automated migration is always quick and less tricky. As after some time, there is not any support for this version of SQL, so planning the migration can be a smart decision for Windows and SQL Server 2008 users.

Manchun Pandit loves pursuing excellence through writing and has a passion for technology. He currently writes for JanBaskTraining, a global Online training company.