Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 will soon enter a phase called End of Support (EOS) and the date for that is on October 10, 2023. After this date, these products will no longer receive security updates, non-security updates, bug fixes, technical support, or online technical content updates. If you cannot upgrade to the next version, you will need to use Extended Security Updates (ESUs) for up to three years.
This means that security updates via “Patch-Tuesday” will no longer be delivered within the operating system’s mainstream support from Microsoft.
Microsoft’s Lifecycle Policy offers 10 years of support (5 years for Mainstream Support and 5 years for Extended Support) for products like SQL Server and Windows Server. According to the policy, there will be no patches or security updates after the end of the extended support period, which can cause security and compliance issues. If customers cannot upgrade to the next version, Microsoft offers Extended Security Updates (ESU) for up to 3 years to keep customers secure on their software versions that end with support.
The security updates you get with the help of ESU are:
ESU is a so-called “last resort option”, and for Windows 2012/2012 R2, the end date will be October 13, 2026, i.e., in three years, regardless of whether the servers are in Azure or on-premises.
However, it is possible to get these security updates in other ways if one cannot move to newer operating systems, and these ways are:
Everything depends on what your environment looks like, whether we can consolidate all Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 VMs to the same hypervisor host (with redundancy if required, which is recommended) or if you should buy a license per VM.
ESU is offered in two flavors, Physical Core or Virtual Core.
So depending on the number of VMs you want to cover in your environment, you have to calculate whether the Datacenter or Standard license is sufficient for the purpose.
Microsoft clarifies: “Each processor needs to be licensed with a minimum of eight cores (four 2-pack Core Licenses). Each physical server, including single-processor servers, will need to be licensed with a minimum of 16 Core Licenses (eight 2-pack of Core Licenses or one 16-pack of Core Licenses). Additional cores can then be licensed in increments of two cores (one 2-pack of Core Licenses) for servers with core densities higher than 8.”
ESU | Datacenter Edition price | Standard Edition price |
---|---|---|
16 core | €403 | €70 |
8 core | €201 | €35 |
2 core | €51 | €8.74 |
From Microsoft: The minimum number of cores is 16 for physical and 8 for virtual core license. In order to purchase ESUs, you must have Software Assurance through Volume Licensing Programs such as an Enterprise Agreement (EA), Enterprise Agreement Subscription (EAS), Enrollment for Education Solutions (EES), or Server and Cloud Enrollment (SCE).
We have 4 physical servers with 8 cores each running Windows Server Standard: Buy 4 ESU of 16 cores per license (min. is 16 cores per license). We have a physical server with 4 VMs each with 4 cores, the host has 16 cores and runs Standard Edition: Buy 1 16 core standard license and apply to Arc objects. We have a physical server with 4 VMs each with 8 cores, the host has 32 cores and runs Standard Edition: Buy as option 1 or buy 4 8 cores licenses and apply to Arc objects.