Server End of Life Case Study

Our client knew that Microsoft support for SQL2008 and Win2008 ended on 9 July 2019 and 14 January 2020 respectively. Our client had previously identified that they had hundreds of SQL2008 servers and thousands of Win2008 servers. Our client however was not sure how many of these servers were being actively used, what was running on all of these servers and which servers needed retaining and supported. Our client needed to rapidly identify which servers to buy Microsoft ESU (Extended Security Updates) for thereby keeping these in support with Microsoft for a further 12 months.

Our first step was to conduct a detailed discovery and analysis of our client’s estate to establish the scope, ownership and priorities. We identified teams to analyse groups of servers and provide their plans for remediating their servers. We established regular tracking, monitoring and reporting to drive down the legacy estate to a manageable number to continue supporting. From here, we produced a consolidated list of Win/SQL 2008 servers that our client needed to purchase Microsoft ESU for. Once the purchase was made and servers registered, we put in place controls and plans to further drive the remediation of vulnerable servers and transferred remaining active servers to new BAU process.