After July 14, Microsoft will no longer support Windows Server 2003. If you are still running Windows Server 2003 in your datacenter, you are just in time to plan and execute a migration strategy.
Here is an excerpt from an IDC Whitepaper on key recommendations to customers currently using Windows Server 2003 and contemplating immediate migration:
1. As with the termination of Windows XP extended support, which took place in April 2014, Microsoft faces a scenario where a meaningful portion of its product installed base remains on a product that has been replaced multiple times.
In this case, Windows Server 2003 has been replaced by Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2. The time has come for customers to take this conclusion of a lengthy life cycle seriously and make near-term plans to begin a migration plan.
2. Unlike Windows XP, where there were application migration challenges that created barriers for some customers to move forward to a newer product, Windows Server 2012 R2 offers relatively good application compatibility with Windows Server 2003.
Although Windows Server 2012 R2 is delivered as a 64-bit operating system, most 32-bit applications that have no 16-bit code segments should install and run on Windows Server 2012 R2 through Windows on Windows 64 (WoW64) technology.
The main exception to this compatibility story is for applications that operate in kernel mode rather than user mode. Security applications and some system utilities such as backup and management agents are among the applications that are likely to need an upgrade as part of a migration to Windows Server 2012 R2.
3. Windows Server 2012 R2 offers a lengthy list of improvements compared with Windows Server 2003, including integrated virtualization, better security, extensive scalability, new operational roles, script execution capabilities, and far more.
While it is a substantial learning curve to move directly from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2012 R2, customers are well advised to not make an interim upgrade to Windows Server 2008 as that product is facing end of mainstream support in January 2015.
4. Customers that go beyond the termination of extended support place themselves at potential security risks and potentially in a regulatory noncompliance situation. Even if regulatory compliance is not a concern, the security improvements that Windows Server 2012 R2 offers are worth adopting if just to help defend against industrial espionage.
5. The deployment paradigm has changed, and today's servers are usually virtualized first. Many customers deploy virtualization-friendly SKUs like Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter, which greatly simplifies licensing and deployment concerns in a virtualized environment. This approach leads to long-term capex savings as virtual machine (VM) densities grow.
source:Techgig
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