Leading Your Customers to Modern IT with Windows Server 2012 R2: Time to Upgrade

Blog 2
Jeff Stoffel

Do you still have customers that haven’t made the jump to Windows Server 2012 R2?  If so, now it the time to help them move to the latest version of Windows Server.  Depending on what you are running now, you have lots of options to get there.

Installation

If you want to move to a newer version of Windows Server on the same hardware, one way that always works is a clean installation, where you just install the newer operating system directly over the old one on the same hardware, thus deleting the previous operating system. That is the simplest way but you will need to back up your data first. There are a few things to be aware of, such as system requirements, so be sure to check the details.  

 

Upgrade

If you want to keep the same hardware and all the server roles you have set up without flattening the server, upgrading is the way to go—and there are lots of ways to do it. In the classic upgrade, you go from an older operating system to a newer one, keeping your settings, server roles, and data intact. For example, if your server is running Windows Server 2012, you can upgrade it to Windows Server 2012 R2. However, not every older operating system has a pathway to every newer one.

Before you get started with an upgrade, have a look at the tables on this page to see how to get from where you are to where you want to be.

Upgrading to Windows Server 2012 R2

For details, including important caveats and limitations on upgrade, license conversion between editions of Windows Server 2012 R2, and conversion of evaluation editions to retail, see Upgrade Options for Windows Server 2012 R2.

Quick reference table of supported upgrade paths from older Windows Server retail editions to Windows Server 2012 R2 retail editions:

If you are running: You can upgrade to these editions:
Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter with SP1 Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter
Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise with SP1 Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard or Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard with SP1 Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard or Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter
Windows Web Server 2008 R2 with SP1 Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard
Windows Server 2012 Datacenter Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter
Windows Server 2012 Standard Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard or Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter
Hyper-V Server 2012 Hyper-V Server 2012 R2

Please check out our whole series on Windows Server 2012 R2 at https://aka.ms/ts2windowsserver2012r2