As organizations are desperate to undertake the most recent technological developments in AI and cloud-native services and products, they proceed to consider Windows Server because the safe and foundational platform for his or her mission-critical workloads. This July, we’re celebrating an improbable 30-year anniversary of Windows Server! We’re thankful for all of the give a boost to of our shoppers who’ve helped us regularly evolve Windows Server through the years, and we proceed to innovate with new options that may meet the desires of our shoppers lately and within the years yet to come.

Options to stick secure for Windows Server 2012/R2 finish of give a boost to 

As new options and capability illuminate the most recent variations of our server choices reminiscent of Windows Server 2022 and SQL Server 2022, we wish to remind organizations that give a boost to for Windows Server 2012/R2 is coming to an finish on October 10, 2023. After the top of give a boost to date, Windows Server 2012/R2 workloads shall be prone as they’ll not obtain common safety updates. Organizations can stay secure via:

1. Modernizing to a PaaS platform reminiscent of Azure SQL Managed Instance or Azure App Service to at all times keep up-to-date, or upgrading to the most recent model in Azure. With a PaaS platform, shoppers can absolutely offload control duties within the cloud, so groups can center of attention on handing over cutting edge apps and stories for his or her companies.   
2. Migrating to Azure  totally free Extended Security Updates. This comprises choices reminiscent of Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Dedicated Host, Azure VMware Solution, and Azure Stack HCI. Combining this with Azure Hybrid Benefit and intake fashions reminiscent of reserved circumstances or financial savings plan for compute lets in much more financial savings in Azure for Windows Server and SQL Server.  
3. Purchasing Extended Security Updates to stay secure on premises and in multi cloud environments.

We know that organizations regularly closely weigh the most productive trail to modernization, with many components to imagine. In this submit, we’ll discover two new choices from Azure Migrate and Azure Arc to give protection to finish of give a boost to workloads.

Migrate and improve Windows Server 2012/R2 with Azure Migrate

If a company is thinking about modernizing and migrating to Azure, step one will have to be to evaluate their setting and construct a migration trade case with Azure Migrate. This unfastened device supplies technical insights into workloads and price estimates for shifting to Azure. 

We’re excited to announce that Azure Migrate now helps in-place upgrades of Windows Server 2012 and later variations, all over the transfer to Azure. Organizations can now elect to transport their legacy programs and databases to an absolutely supported, appropriate, and compliant working device reminiscent of Windows Server 2016, 2019, or 2022. Organizations too can keep away from downtime via first upgrading to a check setting in Azure and working manufacturing workloads in parallel to substantiate capability and compatibility, earlier than absolutely shifting to Azure.

With this new function, organizations can keep away from Windows Server 2012/R2 finish of give a boost to and achieve their modernization and migration objectives in a single movement. Learn extra about this option in Azure Migrate right here.  

Stay secure in on-premises and multicloud environments with Extended Security Updates enabled via Azure Arc 

For organizations who aren’t in a position to modernize or migrate previous to the Windows Server 2012/R2 finish of give a boost to date this October, Microsoft is saying Extended Security Updates enabled via Azure Arc. With Azure Arc, organizations will be capable of acquire and seamlessly deploy Extended Security Updates in on-premises or multicloud environments, proper from the Azure portal. Extended Security Updates enabled via Azure Arc additionally offers extra flexibility with a pay-as-you-go subscription fashion. 

Here are the important thing advantages: 

• Flexible billing and financial savings: Activate and join from Azure to pay for safety updates on a per month foundation, giving organizations extra flexibility emigrate and modernize to Azure on their phrases.  

• Centralized value control: Analyze prices the usage of Azure Cost Management and notice all Azure intake in a single position.  

• Greater visibility: Surface enrollment standing of Extended Security Updates to spotlight gaps and standing adjustments  

• Organize and stock your belongings: Gain visibility and reporting throughout servers spanning your hybrid, multicloud, and edge infrastructure. 

• Keyless supply: The enrollment of Extended Security Updates on Azure Arc-enabled machines does now not require the purchase or activation of keys. 

• Security and compliance: Seamlessly prolong Azure safety and governance from cloud to edge and keep compliant with supported instrument. 

To get began lately, attach your servers to Azure Arc totally free via putting in Azure Arc the usage of acquainted deployment gear like Configuration Manager, Group Policy, Windows Admin Center, or MSI. In September 2023, Extended Security Updates enabled via Azure Arc shall be to be had natively in Azure to indicate and click on to turn on your Extended Security Updates. This capacity can also be to be had for SQL Server 2012.

Start modernizing for finish of give a boost to

With all of the new choices to be had, there’s no higher time to begin modernizing for finish of give a boost to with Azure. Here are a couple of key sources to get began: 

• Learn extra about your choices for Windows Server and SQL Server finish of give a boost to. 
• Learn extra about Extended Security Updates on our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) web page and the documentation.
• Protect past Extended Security Updates via bettering safety with Microsoft Defender for Cloud – a complete and unified cloud-native safety answer to give protection to hybrid and multicloud environments from code to cloud.   
• Learn extra about working Windows Server on Azure.
• Get in-depth sources for each degree of your cloud adventure with Azure Migrate and Modernize & Azure Innovate—our new choices from Azure that supply end-to-end give a boost to from migration and modernization to infusing the most recent innovation in analytics and AI.