You may have heard us mention quite a while back in 2018 that server 2012 R2’s end-of-life road map was beginning and Microsoft were removing their mainstream support for this server. So why are we reminding you of this now, you may ask?! That is because the extended support phase that the server entered is coming to an end in October 2023, which will creep up on us much quicker than we think.
In essence, any business still using the Microsoft server 2012 R2 will no longer receive critical security updates and patches after October 2023. This means that any data stored on your server will be at a much higher risk of threat from hackers or cyber-attacks. Therefore, we recommend that you take a proactive approach and update your server operating system well in advance of this support removal.
When Does End-Of-Life Happen?
Microsoft’s higher-profile software solutions such as Microsoft 365 have quite a vague lifecycle as support tends to be ‘unlimited’ without having an actual time frame stated. With Windows server products, however, they have a much more specific lifecycle which we will now go into more detail about.
These more traditional operating systems are released under Microsoft’s ‘Long Term Servicing Channel [LTSC]’ which means product support is offered for 10 years. The first 5 years of support is termed ‘mainstream support’ and the latter 5 years are termed ‘extended support’. So how does this relate to server 2012 R2? Well, as the initial notice period for the end-of-life was given in 2018, this means it has now entered its ‘extended support’ phase until 2023.
What Happens After Extended Support Ends?
The line is quite black and white when the ‘extended support’ phase ends. Microsoft essentially rinse their hands of the product and there will be no support provided whatsoever, and the product will therefore be unprotected.
An unsupported operating system will no longer receive any security updates, official patches or bug fixes so it is incredibly insecure moving forward. So if you use Windows server 2012 R2 then you really need to think about shifting away from it sooner rather than later. An insecure network opens up lots of opportunities for cybercriminals to make their move and cause widespread damage. Not only are you exposing your network to potential breaches, but also the data stored on the network too.
Steps You Can Take
While you have got around 18 months to upgrade your server 2012 R2 if you are still running this, we would advise you to start thinking about this sooner rather than later. It may be that your entire IT infrastructure needs upgrading to the latest version, so it is always best to ensure you have time on your side.
How Old Are Your Servers?
It is worth noting that if you are using this outdated server then there may well be other IT infrastructure that you need to update at the same time. For example, if you haven’t upgraded your server operating system in the last 10 years then you will most likley need to upgrade your applications too. It is important to bring all IT systems up to date to reduce the risk of your business being prone to attack by hackers.
The team at Reality Solutions are experts when it comes to supporting businesses with their IT support and infrastructure, and we provide a no-obligation quote. If you are running server 2012 R2 then please give us a call today to discuss your options on 01482 828000.
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Windows Server 2012 R2
| Version of the Windows NT operating system |
Windows Server 2012 R2 Start Screen |
| Microsoft |
| Microsoft Windows |
| Current |
| Closed source / Shared source |
| August 27, 2013; 9 years ago[1] |
| October 18, 2013; 9 years ago[2] |
| 6.3 [Build 9600] / October 11, 2022; 2 months ago[3] |
| Business |
| Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services, SCCM |
| x86-64 |
| Hybrid [Windows NT kernel] |
| Windows shell [GUI] |
| Trialware |
| Windows Server 2012 |
| Windows Server 2016 |
| www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server/default.aspx |
|
Windows Server 2012 R2, codenamed "Windows Server Blue", is the seventh version of the Windows Server operating system by Microsoft, as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It was unveiled on June 3, 2013 at TechEd North America,[5] and released on October 18 of the same year.[2] It is the successor to the original Windows Server 2012, and is the Windows 8.1 derived server operating system to receive official support from Microsoft.
A further update, formally designated Windows Server 2012 R2 Update, was released in April 2014.[6] It is a cumulative set of security, critical and other updates.[7] Windows Server 2012 R2 is derived from the Windows 8.1 codebase, and runs only on x86-64 processors [64-bit].
Windows Server 2012 R2 was succeeded by Windows Server 2016, which is derived from the Windows 10 codebase.
Features[edit]
The following features are introduced in Windows Server 2012 R2:
- Automated Tiering: Storage Spaces stores most frequently accessed files on fastest physical media[8]
- Deduplication for VHD: Reduces the storage space for VHD files with largely similar contents by storing the similar contents only once[8]
- Windows PowerShell v4, which now includes a Desired State Configuration [DSC] feature
- Integrated Office 365 support [Essentials edition]
- User interface changes reflecting Windows 8.1, including visible Start button.[9]
- UEFI-based virtual machines
- Upgrades from driver emulators to synthetic hardware drivers to minimize legacy support
- Faster VM deployment [approximately half the time][10]
- Internet Information Services 8.5: Support for logging to Event Tracing for Windows and the ability to log any request/response headers. To improve scalability, if IIS is configured with 100 or more web sites, by default it will not automatically start any of them. Alongside this, a new "Idle Worker Process Page-Out" configuration option has been added to application pools to instruct Windows to page-out the process if it has been idle for the idle time-out period [by default, 20 minutes].[11]
- Server Message Block: Performance and event logging quality improvements, support for Hyper-V Live Migration over SMB, bandwidth prioritization management, and the ability to remove SMB 1.0 support[12]
- Windows Deployment Services: Support for managing WDS via PowerShell.[13]
- Windows Defender is available in a Server Core installation, and is installed and enabled by default.[14][dubious – discuss]
- IP Address Management [IPAM]: Extended to support role-based access control, allowing for fine-grained control over which users can view or change configurations for DHCP reservations, scopes, IP address blocks, DNS resource records, etc. Additionally, IPAM can integrate with System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 R2 to have coordinated IP policy across both physical and virtual environments. The IPAM database can be stored in a SQL Server instance instead of Windows Internal Database.[15]
- Group Policy has a new "Policy Cache" setting which allows domain-joined machines to store a copy of the group policy settings on the client machine and, depending on the speed of access to the domain controller, use those at startup time instead of waiting for the policy settings to download. This can improve startup times on machines that are disconnected from the company network.[16] New Group Policy settings have been added to cover new features in Windows 8.1 and Internet Explorer 11, such as enabling/disabling SPDY/3 support, configuring start screen layouts, and detecting phone numbers in web pages.[17]
- TLS support is extended to support RFC 5077, "Transport Layer Security [TLS] Session Resumption without Server-Side State", which improves performance of long-running TLS-secured connections that need to reconnect due to session expiration.
- Hyper-V role and Hyper-V management console are added to the Essentials edition.[18]
- Windows Server Update Services was made available for Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials edition.[19]
- ReFS gained support for alternate data streams and automatic error-correction on parity spaces.[20]
Editions[edit]
According to the Windows Server 2012 R2 datasheet published on May 31, 2013, there are four editions of this operating system: Foundation, Essentials, Standard and Datacenter.[21] As with Windows Server 2012, the Datacenter and Standard editions are feature-identical, varying only based on licensing [particularly licensing of virtual instances]. The Essentials edition has the same features as the Datacenter and Standard products, with some restrictions.[22]
See also[edit]
- Microsoft Servers
- Comparison of Microsoft Windows versions
- History of Microsoft Windows
- Comparison of operating systems
- List of operating systems
References[edit]
- ^ Anderson, Brad [27 August 2013]. "Today is the RTM for Windows Server 2012 R2!". Enterprise Mobility and Security Blog. Microsoft.
- ^ a b Jeff Meisner [August 14, 2013]. "Save the date: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows System Center 2012 R2 and Windows Intune update coming Oct. 18 - The Official Microsoft Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs". TechNet Blogs. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
- ^ "October 11, 2022—KB5018474 [Monthly Rollup]". support.microsoft.com. October 11, 2022.
- ^ "Search product lifecycle – Windows Server 2012 R2". Microsoft.com. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
- ^ Damien Caro [June 10, 2013]. "Windows Server 2012 R2–First look - Damien Caro's Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs". Blogs.technet.com. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
- ^ "August updates for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 - Windows Experience BlogWindows Experience Blog". blogs.windows.com.
- ^ "Windows Server 2012 R2 Update [KB2919355]". Microsoft Download Center.
- ^ a b Jackson, Joab [June 5, 2013]. "Windows Server 2012 R2 bulks up on storage and networking". PC World. IDG. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
- ^ Sams, Brad [June 25, 2013]. "Windows 8.1 Start button revealed in Windows Server 2012 R2". Neowin.net. Neowin LLC. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
- ^ Tulloch, Mitch [2013]. Introducing Windows Server 2012 R2 [PDF] [Preview Release ed.]. Redmond, Washington: Microsoft Press. ISBN 978-0-7356-8293-1. Retrieved September 19, 2013.
- ^ "What's New in IIS 8.5?". Microsoft.
- ^ "What's New for SMB in Windows Server 2012 R2".
- ^ "What's New for Windows Deployment Services in Windows Server 2012 R2".
- ^ "What's Changed in Security Technologies in Windows 8.1".
- ^ "What's New in IPAM in Windows Server 2012 R2".
- ^ "What's New in Group Policy in Windows Server 2012 R2". Microsoft.
- ^ "What's new in Group Policy in Windows Server 2012 R2". Group Policy Central. 25 June 2013.
- ^ Fabritius, David [3 September 2013]. "Understanding Licensing for Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials and the Windows Server Essentials Experience role". The Windows Server Essentials and Small Business Server Blog.
- ^ "Windows Server 2012 R2 Products and Editions Comparison". Download Center. Microsoft. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
- ^ "Resilient File System Overview". TechNet Library. Microsoft. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
- ^ "Cloud Optimize Your Business" [PDF]. Microsoft. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
- ^ Mackie, Kurt [June 20, 2013]. "Microsoft Enhancing Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials for SMBs". Redmondmag.com. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
Further reading[edit]
- Mackie, Kurt [June 20, 2013]. "Microsoft Profiles Hyper-V Improvements in Windows Server 2012 R2". Redmondmag.com. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
- "Best of TechEd 2013 – What's New in Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 R2 - IT Pros ROCK! at Microsoft - Site Home - TechNet Blogs". Blogs.technet.com. June 10, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
- "Top Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Virtualization Features". Petri.co.il. June 3, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
- Savill, John [June 3, 2013]. "New Features Windows Server 2012 R2 | Windows Server 2012 content from". Windows IT Pro. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
- Thurrott, Paul [June 7, 2013]. "Windows Server 2012 Essentials R2 Preview | Windows Server 2012 content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows". Winsupersite.com. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
- "Microsoft Announces Windows Server 2012 R2 at TechEd 2013 North America - Canadian IT Professionals - Site Home - TechNet Blogs". Blogs.technet.com. June 3, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2013.