SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 is Done For

Two of Microsoft’s most popular relational database management systems, SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 will be losing support on July 9, 2019. If your business continues to use one of these titles for its database management, you are running out of time before you need to upgrade. Today, we’ll take a brief look at what the software is used for and what options are open to you going forward.

What is SQL Server?

SQL server is Microsoft’s relational database management system (RDMS) application. It is used to manage the data found in the databases your company uses to effectively utilize applications. While there are several types of RDMS servers on the market, they typically have specific applications they are used with. The SQL Server RDMS has been updated numerous times in the 11 years since SQL Server 2008 was introduced and the nine since 2008 R2 launched, with all types of additions for new dataflows and cloud resources. 

What Are Your Options?

Since the end of support date is only four days away, your options are severely limited. If you choose to keep using the SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2 titles, you will run into problems as any software that doesn’t get frequent patches and updates will inherently have vulnerabilities that hackers can use to deliver malware, steal data, and otherwise make your IT administrator’s life difficult. 

Since it may be extremely difficult to sufficiently modernize a new in-house server before the deadline, Microsoft has extended organizations that use these RDMS titles a lifeline. They have offered three additional years of support as long as the organization moves their existing databases to the Azure cloud--a pretty solid deal since the software will no longer be supported otherwise. 

By migrating your SQL Server 2008 to the cloud (in Azure), Microsoft will continue to support your software through July 2022. This extended support gives organizations time to come up with a viable plan without having to move forward with unsupported software that could present a whole litany of security problems. 

If you are staring down the July 9th deadline, a migration to a secure Azure environment may be your only hope to avoid very serious security issues. For more information about RDMS platforms and hosting, reach out to the IT professionals at Directive today at 607.433.2200.