Microsoft announce end-of-life support for SQL Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008
The recent changes Microsoft announced may have a big impact on an organisation’s security credentials.
Microsoft’s end-of-support for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and Microsoft Windows Server 2008 announcement means that after 9 July 2019 and 14 January 2020 respectively, there will be no security updates for these products, leading to potential security and compliance risks.
Depending on the circumstances, one recommendation is to move the on-premise Microsoft SQL 2008 and Microsoft Windows Server 2008 workloads into the Microsoft Azure cloud.
The main reason for organisations to modernise their database platform is to address shortcomings created by an out-of-date, less agile on-premise solution.
Through upgrading legacy on-premise database technology, businesses consolidate their environment, and optimise performance, recovery, and provisioning.
Other reasons a business’s decision to move an on-premise legacy database server infrastructure into the cloud include:
- Rising on-premise IT infrastructure costs
- Ageing or an out-of-support legacy IT infrastructure
- Increasing security threat
- Storage capacity limitations
- High availability and disaster recovery needs
- New compliance regulations
- Increased agility to deliver business growth
Microsoft Azure may be the right solution for a firm, but it depends on the legacy systems and applications which the firm are using. All that is clear now is that action is necessary if a company runs Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or Microsoft Windows Server 2008. Otherwise, there may be security risks.