Pinnacle – South Africa’s leading ICT distributor and authorised distributor of Microsoft, has confirmed that Windows Server 2008 support ends soon.
Michelle Losco, Digital Director, Publishared, says security updates and warranty claims for Windows Server 2008/R2 end in January 2020.
“Users can upgrade with DellEMC or Hewlett Packard Enterprise now and by doing so they will enhance security, performance, scalability and cloud-readiness,” she said.
“Windows Server 2008 was limited to 64 logical processors, which by today’s standards leaves it in the slow lane for modern business operations. Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2019’s enhanced security protects on various layers including identity, OS, and virtualisation and in so doing disrupt attacks and isolate vulnerable targets.
“Support is confirmed to continue until at least 2023. Underlying a server’s performance is enough memory to cope with the load but 1TB of physical memory per server is not only yesterday’s news but is also the maximum Windows Server 2008 offered.
“Windows Server 2019 commands massively scalable and hardware-agnostic storage, networking and computes from a single interface, all while reducing expenses.”
Windows Server 2016 is available now and will continue to receive product support (including security updates) until at least 2023.
“Windows Server 2019, which builds on the strong foundation of Windows Server 2016, is scheduled for general release around the end of December,” added Losco.
“The latest Windows Servers have different hardware requirements to Windows Server 2008/R2. Most legacy servers are unsuitable and un-optimised for newer Windows Server versions. To take full advantage of modern security, performance and efficiency features, running Windows Server 2016 and 2019 on modern servers is recommended.”