should I upgrade?

[specular]

hallo

I work in a small academic environment with ~130 desktop clients

there are a few virtual machines in an esxi host (hp server with 2 cpu and enough ram)

I don't have particular needs, at the moment the are:

1vm domain controller, dhcp and dns

1vm wsus and antivirus

1vm wds, print service and nps

plus a couple of linux vm

 

in the next months I'll have the opportunity to upgrade our software library

is it worth the upgrade to windows 2016 or I can stick to 2008r2?

can you help me find out the best licensing option? I was thinking about a standard license for 4 vm and enough cal for the clients...are there other things to consider?

thanks!

[TechMonkey]

You can't really stick with 2008R2 as support is ending for them in 2020. You will have no support and no security updates. I would recommend upgrading to 2019 so that you have maximum time before you need to upgrade again and then get a upgrade paln in place so you can stay ahead of the curve.

 

As for licensing I would speak to a licensing company as it gets so complicated sometimes that generally everyone has an idea how it should work but that isn't necessarily how it does. Depending on how many VMs you have and you create sometimes a Datacenter license for the host can work out cheaper and gives you more flexibility.

 

If you are in the UK, Pugh are fairly well respected. We use a local MSP who does us well and keeps us up to date of changes.

[chris11256]

If possible I'd go with Server 2019 instead. Server 2016 takes ages to install any updates. I've been running 2019 on one domain controller, two file servers and a few others have have no problems.

 

Server 2008 R2 is end of life in January, so ideally you need to move.

[mavhc]

You need to licence the physical server(s) (although don't need to install on the physical servers, because MS are weird), and then, depending on the version, you can run 2, or infinite VMs of Server 2019. You need to licence at least 16 cores (because MS are weird)

 

I suggest killing WSUS and using Update Compliance and WUfB, then stick with 2 Windows VMs.

 

Free ESXi? Seems to have way too many restrictions these days, you could a) switch to hyper-v server, free, b) install server 2019 and just use it for hyper-v (included in licence), or c) other, xen etc.

[browolf]

How old is the physical server? Does it have a warranty or are you buying extended warranties?

[StoneGroup_JackW]

Hi @specular, in our opinion we recommend upgrading to server 2019, as this the latest version of windows server and such offers the longest support window. Also, there are some more features within this which makes migration much simpler than it was to server 2016. if you need any further information or need to ask any questions, just drop me a PM

[specular]

thank you all for the support

ok I'll try to ask for a 2vm (or maybe 4...) 2019 standard and ~130 device cal

the server is an old hp proliant dl560 g8 with 64gb and esxi free, it's ok for our necessity and I'm now used to it but trying hyper-v it's a possibility!

 

I have another question... recently I upgraded all the clients to windows 10 using the ms free upgrade

if I'd want to deploy a custom image with mdt/wds, what kind of win10 license do I need? I mean...I have to buy a volume license for 100+ clients or is there a cheaper option as the clients already have win10 installed?

 

thanks!

[mavhc]

You already have the OEM licence, freely upgraded to Win 10. I assume it's Pro, if so just keep that, the computers will just activate automatically.

 

Download the Win 10 Pro iso, extract the install.wim and boot.wim, add them to WDS, off you go.

[JDeacy]

This looks interesting