Windows Server 2012r2, no more updates. Options.

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getontoit99

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#318640 6-Feb-2025 12:19

>>>>> SERVER LICENSING QUESTIONS ADDED <<<<<

Hi All.

This 11 year-old HP ProLiant ML310e server runs Windows Server 2012r2 and provides network drives for 12 users in a small business.

Hardware RAID 1 provides a 465GB system drive, of which 110GB is in user files. A second RAID 1 drive with non-HP disks provides 2TB for Windows File History backups from 12 PCs.

8GB RAM is installed. One PSU is present with a bay available for a 2nd.

Windows Server Backup runs daily to external hard drives and there are daily backups to iDrive.

The only other application or service of note is Unifi Controller 6.0.28 for two AP’s. UniFi’s Mongo DB is actually the biggest user of RAM on the system. Stopping the UniFi service brings memory use from 7.8GB to 5.6GB. CPU and network utilisation are negligible.

The server is getting old, though 100%-reliable. OS support (fixes and updates) ended in October 2023!

Option 1 - Upgrading to Windows Server 2016 Essentials

This seems to be the most straightforward way to get two more years of updates and security fixes. Later versions are not supported on this h/w.

But, which license do I need? If it's Windows Server Essentials 2016 Open License, that's $786 excl GST. Windows Server 2016 Essentials Open Value Subscription is priced at $521. What's the difference?

Option 1 is a “low touch” solution which doesn’t replace the hardware. I’ll probably add 8GB of RAM and maybe a 2nd PSU.

Option 2 - Synology DiskStation DS423+ 4-Bay NAS

With a RAM upgrade and two 4TB HDD’s or maybe SSD’s. Run the UniFi server in a VM on the NAS.

Comments and guidance, please😊.

Yes, I’ve heard of Linux…

Thanks, Scott

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meow
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#3339859 6-Feb-2025 12:25

Would recommend adding more ram. You could actually just pop Promox on the same host then run your Windows Server as a VM on that. You'll then be able to run Windows Server 2016 along with your UniFi controller and other LXC containers: https://community-scripts.github.io/ProxmoxVE/

Other option as you state is to grab a Synology which will use far less power while providing a pretty good NAS.

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nztim

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#3339876 6-Feb-2025 13:05

If it was me….. if its just file storage you can get Microsoft 365 Business Basic for $9.70 per user and that gives 1TB pf SharePoint storage + email etc

Your Unifi Controller is quite old also which I am guessing your APs are too, I would migrate this to Aruba Instant on with free cloud management.

Then you don’t need to water and feed any hardware/software

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amanzi

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#3339877 6-Feb-2025 13:07

If the server isn't doing anything Windows‐specific, I'd definitely be leaning towards switching to a Linux server or a NAS.

It's been a while since I dealt with on-prem Windows servers, but I assume you still need to deal with CALs?

getontoit99

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#3339880 6-Feb-2025 13:14

Thanks, Tim.

I should have mentioned that they run SAM (workshop management) on the server.

When I last checked, it's a very latency-sensitive old app that the provider Auxo will not support unless a) it runs on a local server or b) it runs in their somewhat more expensive hosted service.

I'll go back and check.

getontoit99

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#3339882 6-Feb-2025 13:17

Thanks amanzi. Windows Server Essentials doesn't require CALs😃.

Lias

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#3339899 6-Feb-2025 15:02

I'm going to offer the potentially unpopular opinion and say the entire thing should be replaced with new hardware, and no business should ever be running a production workload on out of support / out of warranty hardware (or software).

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DjShadow

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#3339900 6-Feb-2025 15:07

Look at Cloud solution like M365 or AWS, means are you shifting to an OPEX cost model but means you won’t be nursing physical server(s)

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lxsw20

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#3339912 6-Feb-2025 15:58

I don't see the point of going Server 2016 when that is EOL in under 2 years also then the customer is back in the same situation.

If this was me scoping a solution for a customer, i'd probably be going HPE MicroServer, Windows Server 2025 and some form of cloud backups.

getontoit99

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#3339981 6-Feb-2025 18:25

Yes Lias, no argument from me on that. Some customers just want to know the minimum cost to keep their tech running. "It's the economy, stupid."

DjShadow, ideally yes to a file share in someone's cloud. I've enquired with Auxo who makes SAM, about this option. The app is very latency-sensitive and Auxo won't even support it over Wi-fi; they insist on a wired network. I expect they'll try and find out who the customer is to upsell them to a hosted solution. Which I expect will at least double the monthly cost per seat.

lxsw20, yes, the downside of upgrading to Server 2016 will be explained. Thanks for the useful input on an actual solution.

Thanks everyone, your responses are appreciated.

cyril7

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#3339996 6-Feb-2025 19:22

Hi so you have lots of stuff that can be locally hosted on Linux, or more specifically I'd say a Synology. Then you have Sam, so you either stand up another windows host locally, or stand up a cloud based host and add an rdp session host to get around the requisite latency issues, or just throw the hat in and sign up to their cloud offering for Sam. Do the numbers, work out the pain every one wants and go with that decision.

Cyril

nztim

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#3340018 6-Feb-2025 21:36

cyril7:

Hi so you have lots of stuff that can be locally hosted on Linux, or more specifically I'd say a Synology. Then you have Sam, so you either stand up another windows host locally, or stand up a cloud based host and add an rdp session host to get around the requisite latency issues, or just throw the hat in and sign up to their cloud offering for Sam. Do the numbers, work out the pain every one wants and go with that decision.

Cyril

Thinking he this is what I would pitch M365 / Aruba Instant On / SAM Cloud

Get rid of all on prem infrastructure make it someone else's problem

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networkn

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#3340019 6-Feb-2025 21:51

You have the option to enroll the 2012R2 in Azure ARC. That will give it security updates for another little while.

It's not a good long term solution. As others have suggested, there are many cloud solutions that could either replace or supplement your on-prem infrastructure.

if it's only documents though, I'd be seriously considering Azure AD Joining the machines, and moving their documents to teams.

Dynamic

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#3340061 7-Feb-2025 08:23

Windows 11 will share files with 12 users just fine. In theory it allows for up to 20 computers to be connected, but my experience is that you get to about 14 and start to have problems. If this is a stable site with no growth expected, then a new HP Elite 600 (or 800) Mini should do the trick nicely and be a cost-effective 5+ year solution. These are (normally) highly stable machines with the only moving part to wear out being the cooling fan, which should idle away as the machine will basically never be doing any hard work. Check with Auxo that this would be a supported configuration. For warranty reasons don't upgrade the primary SSD, but you can add second SSD easily if more storage is required. Put this machine in a corner with a high voltage electric fence around it so nobody touches it.

A significant down-side to this option is that applying different security levels to different shares is technically possible but is non-trivial and error prone. I strongly don't recommend trying.

Additionally, I would use a cloud-based and image-based backup that someone monitors on a daily basis. Have SAM back itself up to the hard drive of this machine daily, before the cloud backup runs, just in case there are some unexpected issues backing up the live database. Files for all staff to access could go in a separate share on the same machine. All files requiring some security (e.g. management-eyes-only) goes into SharePoint or similar.

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Andib

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#3340066 7-Feb-2025 08:48

Have you considering using a product such as Trend Micro ~~Deep Security~~ Cloud Workload Security which offers "Virtual Patching"?
This is not the same as upgrading to a modern OS such as server 2022 / 2025 which have more security built into the OS but will provide "patches" to newly discovered vulnerabilities for quite some time. Trend still currently provide protection to server 2003 so 2012 will have support for quite some time.

Another option as mentioned by someone else, you can Azure ARC join your server and purchase extended security updates from Microsoft. This gives 3 additional years (from original EOL) of security updates. If you purchase this now, you have to back date your licence to Oct 2023. https://aka.ms/ArcESUPricing

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amanzi

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#3340077 7-Feb-2025 09:36

Sounds like you definitely need more that just hosting file shares. I would quote the customer the cost to upgrade the on-prem system to meet the minimum specs required by SAM, and then work out the costs to use their cloud-hosted option. That will give you an idea of what the solution will end up looking like. Then you can worry about what to do with the file shares and any other services they require - if you're staying with an on-prem solution, just move the file shares to the new server, or if going cloud then look at options like M365 or Google Workspace or other.

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