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On July 14 Microsoft will terminate extended support for Windows Server 2003. This means that there will be "no more patches fixing security vulnerabilities, non-security defects," etc. If Windows Server 2003 and the applications running on it play a critical role in your infrastructure, you need to start migrating to a new server platform now (if you haven't already).

While migration begins with the physical or virtual server and the operating system, it doesn't stop there. Ensuring a smooth upgrade path for applications will minimize downtime. It's important to understand the ramifications of migration up and down the stack, from operating system to database to application to Web front end. There are plenty of places to break the stack during migration, so careful planning and testing are requirements that need to be built into your project timeline.

July 14, 2015. That's the date. Microsoft will terminate extended support for Windows Server 2003. And it's right around the corner. This means that there will be no more patches for security vulnerabilities or non-security defects from Microsoft. Nor will there be support for third-party applications, as defects in the underlying OS can't be addressed.

Yet there is no one-size-fits-all recommendation for what to do with all of your Windows Server 2003 servers. The migration process could take months depending on how complex existing systems are. And options abound. You could migrate to a newer Windows Server OS, Microsoft Azure, Office 365, another cloud provider, or even another server OS. With so many options it may be difficult to make a choice and take action.

Intel on Tuesday announced the availability of the Xeon E7 v3 processor family for scale-out data center operations and big data analytics solutions that are increasingly transforming how people do business.

Xeon E7 v3 chips boast up to 18 dual-threaded cores and up to 45MB of L3 cache, helping these processors deliver a 40 percent performance boost over the preceding generation of Xeon E7 v2 parts, according to Intel.

Microsoft is putting Windows Server 2003 out to pasture on July 14, 2015. As the server operating system goes end-of-life, Microsoft will drop support and stop issuing security and other patches. Many third-party application providers will stop supporting the platform as well. Continuing to rely on Windows Server 2003 will put your business at risk of falling out of compliance with regulations such as HIPAA and PCI. It's pretty clear that you need to migrate away from Windows Server 2003.

In the first part in this series, we provided a methodology for planning and executing a successful migration. In this article, we'll talk about your options for migration and how to choose the right platform.

If you're running Windows Server 2003 on production systems, you need to etch the date July 14, 2015 into your brain, because that's when Microsoft will terminate extended support for the venerable OS. That date is rapidly approaching, so it's time to get moving on your migration plans. The more complex your operation is and the more heavily you rely on Windows Server 2003 to run production systems, the more time and effort you're going to have to put into migration. It's possible that your operation will require three or more months to make the switch, which means that you'd better get on this now.

Migrating from Windows Server 2003 is critically important as extended support for Standard, Enterprise and Data Center (32-bit and 64-bit) will end. This means that there will be no more patches of security vulnerabilities or non-security defects or operational issues. Moreover, third-party products such as business applications will not be supported on Windows Server 2003. No third party could guarantee that their software would continue to run on unsupported systems, because defects might arise in the underlying OS that can't be addressed.