Is it time to move your business servers to the cloud?

The best time to decide whether a server belongs in the cloud is when money has to be spent on it anyway. Three events do that: the operating system runs out of support, the hardware reaches the end of its warranty, or the office moves. If one of them falls in the next year, now is the time to look.

The operating system is running out of support

Microsoft supports each version of Windows Server for a fixed period. There are at least five years of mainstream support, then a period of extended support in which security updates continue and nothing new is added. When extended support ends, the security updates end with it.

These are the dates for the versions still found in offices:

• Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2: extended support ended on 10 October 2023. The last date for the paid Extended Security Updates that followed is 13 October 2026.
• Windows Server 2016: extended support ends in January 2027.
• Windows Server 2019: extended support ends in January 2029.
• SQL Server 2016, if one of your applications keeps its database in it: extended support ended in July 2026.

Microsoft describes Extended Security Updates as a last resort and a temporary bridge to a newer version. They do not come with technical support. The Australian Signals Directorate is blunter: its Essential Eight says operating systems that are no longer supported by vendors are replaced.

If you do not know which version your server runs, ask whoever looks after it. It takes a minute to check.

The hardware is out of warranty

A server bought outright is paid for up front and sized on the day of purchase for the years ahead. When the warranty ends, you can make another purchase of the same kind or rent the capacity instead. Cloud services are charged by use. You pay for what you run for as long as you run it, and you can add or remove capacity as the business changes. business.gov.au points out that files kept online need none of the office space or regular hardware upgrades that a server in the office does.

Renting is not automatically cheaper. A cloud server that runs all day, every day is billed all day, every day. Compare the two over the number of years you would keep a new machine, and count the power, cooling, backup and support the office server needs.

The lease is ending or the office is moving

A server has to be shut down, carried, reconnected and tested, and the new premises need somewhere secure, cool and powered to put it. If the files and applications already live in a data centre, the move is mostly a matter of getting the internet connected at the new address. A moving date also gives the project a deadline that everyone has already accepted.

Reasons to wait

Sometimes the right replacement for a server is another server. Microsoft’s own guidance gives both routes: move the work to a cloud server, or upgrade to a supported version of Windows Server on your own premises. Staying put makes sense when:

• The software you depend on is only supported by its maker on a local server. Ask them in writing before planning anything.
• The office internet connection is slow or unreliable. Everything in the cloud arrives over that connection, and equipment connected to the nbn does not work in a power outage.
• The server is recent, supported and doing its job, and no move or renewal is coming.

What to do before the date arrives

1. List every server, what runs on it, and which version of Windows Server or SQL Server it uses.
2. Look up each version on Microsoft’s lifecycle pages and write the end date beside it.
3. Ask the maker of each application whether there is a cloud version, and whether they support the current one on a cloud server.
4. Decide for each job separately. Email and shared files can go to a service such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. An application may move to a cloud server, or stay on new hardware in the office.
5. Restore a backup and check that it opens before anything is moved.
6. Move one thing at a time, and keep the old server running until each one is confirmed as working.

If nobody has tested a restore lately, start with A backup you have never restored is a guess. For advice before you commit money, see IT Consulting. We design, migrate and manage cloud servers under Compute.