Information Technology Navigator

Time is running out. Microsoft deadlines for SQL Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 end of support are quickly approaching with Extended Support for SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 ending on July 9, 2019 and Extended Support for Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 ending on January 14, 2020. Don’t risk possible security or compliance gaps of unsupported software.

Security Options

End of support for these releases means the end of regular security updates. With cyberattacks becoming more sophisticated and frequent, running applications and data on unsupported versions can create significant security and compliance risks. With these risks and end of support dates coming soon, Microsoft has provided a cost-effective alternative to allow you to keep your 2008 release servers by migrating to the Azure cloud.

Last week, 5 members of the Daymark Cloud Consulting team traveled down to Orlando, Florida to attend the annual Microsoft Ignite technical conference. As always, the first day of the conference was filled with several major announcements. This blog will focus on the Azure related enhancements that were announced and Daymark’s thoughts on how they could help our clients in the future.

With end of extended support for Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 and SQL Server 2008/2008 R2 quickly approaching within the next year, Microsoft has announced a program that will provide an additional 3 years of extended support if these workloads are migrated to Azure. Since this announcement in July, customers have been trying to figure out the most efficient way to migrate these workloads to Azure while preventing any security or compliance issues.

On July 12, 2018, Microsoft announced new options for SQL Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 end of support. End of support is quickly approaching:

Firewall capabilities fall short in cloud environments like Microsoft Azure due to the fact that Azure and other major public cloud providers offer limited access to their API’s. This creates a problem for enterprises as they look to security independent software vendors (ISVs) to enhance their security capabilities in the cloud the same way they would in the data center.

When organizations are evaluating public cloud platforms, they frequently compare the market leaders: Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. There is no shortage of published content comparing the pros and cons of each of these platforms, but I think research by Stack Overflow, an online knowledge sharing community for developers, provides some interesting and unbiased insights.

Organizations of all sizes are looking for ways to take advantage of the many benefits the cloud has to offer.  As they begin to evaluate cloud options, they want to see how and where the cloud can fit into their business model securely and cost effectively. To address the most common concerns of moving to the cloud, security and cost, Daymark has a program that allows a business to visualize their workloads in the cloud, enabling them to see exactly how their concerns will be addressed.

At Daymark, we practice what we preach. If it’s not good enough for us, it’s not good enough for our customers either! One example: Microsoft Azure. Long before we achieved Elite Microsoft partner status, we had moved our own network onto Azure, and now have over three years of experience running our environment in the cloud. Here are some of the lessons we’ve learned and best practices we implement when helping clients migrate to Azure.

Cloud technologies started becoming relevant about ten years ago, and now more and more businesses have been moving their IT environments from on-prem hardware to the cloud. With many organizations adopting a “cloud first” strategy, it is clear that we are heading into a time where it will be the norm for companies to have the majority of their IT environment in the cloud instead of on-prem.

This thought reminded me of a Winston Churchill quote, in which he said, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” When Churchill said this, he was referring to World War 2, but this quote also applies to how this is the end of the beginning of the adoption of cloud technologies. Sooner rather than later, all companies’ IT environments will have some sort of integration with cloud technologies, whether their entire environment is moved to the cloud, or they run a hybrid environment.

In “Part 1” and “Part 2” of this blog series on Microsoft Azure, I’ve covered frequently asked questions on security, migration best practices and how to get started with a pilot. Here, in this third and final installment, I share common questions on predicting costs, deployment “gotchas” and competitive offerings.

Q. How can I estimate my monthly/yearly Azure costs?

A. Azure has a pricing calculator service which allows you to add any product that you envision your cloud having, and then it will estimate your costs for you. You can see and try the calculator out for yourself by clicking here.

Q. What are the unexpected “gotchas” in a typical Azure deployment?