As mentioned in an earlier post, SQL Server 2008 has gone end of support as of July 9, 2019, while Windows Server 2008 is going end of support January 14, 2020. If you continue to use these products beyond the end of support dates, you will no longer receive any technical support, bug fixes or security updates, which could leave your organization at risk.
That’s why now’s the time to start planning your server environment migration. Here are five reasons to upgrade to the latest versions of SQL Server and/or Windows Server:
- Run faster and smarter with intelligent database features. Upon the introduction of SQL Server 2017, Microsoft announced several community-driven enhancements, including smart differential backup, smart transaction log backup, and transaction log monitoring. View this Microsoft blog post for more technical details.
- Improved backup performance for small databases on high end servers. Microsoft performance testing results showed more than 100x improvement when taking system database backups on a 2TB machine, compared to older SQL Server releases.
- Receive the latest security patches and updates. End of support means just that – in a few months’ time, SQL Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 will no longer be supported. This means you could miss out on patches that protect against future vulnerabilities; for example, when Microsoft released patches against Spectre and Meltdown, users still running SQL Server 2005 were not offered protection.
- Upgrade to hyperconverged infrastructure. Upgrading your Windows Server can allow you to move to the latest data centre technology – hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), which combines storage, compute and networking into a single system. This technology was first made available in Windows Server 2016, and has since been upgraded in Windows Server 2019.
- Improved security functionality. According to NetworkWorld,“Windows Server 2019 includes Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) that assess common vectors for security breaches, and automatically blocks and alerts about potential malicious attacks.” It has adopted an “expect breach” model, based on the assumption that servers and applications within a data centre have already been compromised, rather than assuming that perimeter firewalls will prevent every attack. This can go a long way in helping to prevent security breaches on Windows 2019 systems.
CDW and our partners offer the latest in next-gen, best-in-class options for seamless SQL Server or Windows Server refresh and deployment. To learn more, visit CDW.ca/Microsofteos
