Important Dates for Microsoft Windows Server 2012 End of Life (EOL)

Willa · ‎10-06-2016

NOW is a great time to introduce your customers to the benefits of pairing Microsoft® Windows Server® 2012 R2 and Microsoft® Windows Server® 2016 (which HPE will be launching at the end of 2016) with HPE ProLiant Servers!!

“Why?” you ask… Great question! Microsoft has announced the End of Life (EOL) date for Microsoft® Windows Server® 2012 editions and Microsoft® Windows Small Business Server® 2011 CALs is set for December 31, 2016.

This announcement affects the following products:

Windows Server 2012 Foundation
Windows Server 2012 Essentials
Windows Server 2012 Standard
Windows Server 2012 Datacenter
Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2011 Client Access Licenses (CALs)

HPE OEM Part Numbers for the above products have a Discontinue (DISCO) Date set for October 31, 2016, and an Obsolete (OBS) Date set for November 30, 2016. This means HPE cannot distribute any of the included products after November 30, 2016.

However, Windows Server 2012 CALs will continue to be available until February 2017, with a DISCO Date of January 31, 2017 and an OBS Date of February 28, 2017. After Windows Server 2012 CALs become obsolete, Windows Server 2016 CALs will be available from HPE for Windows Server 2016 and previous versions.

So, what benefits should customers know about? When you pair Windows Server 2012 R2 with HPE ProLiant servers you bring together the world's leading server hardware and software. HPE and Microsoft's partnership combines the intelligence of HPE ProLiant Gen9—the word's most self-sufficient servers—with the virtualization and scalability of Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2. Together, the integrated hardware and software solutions automate the IT lifecycle, accelerate workloads, optimize energy, and help assure availability to deliver the applications businesses demand.

In addition, your customers will receive significant value from the following key capabilities:

Server virtualization: New levels of performance and cross-platform support
Storage: High performance and resiliency at a fraction of the cost
Networking: Hybrid networking with breakthrough levels of flexibility and performance
Server management and automation: Increased management efficiency for your diverse data center
Web and application platform: Modern applications built and deployed to scale on-premise and in the cloud
Access to information protection: Consistent and flexible user access to corporate resources while protecting data behind the firewall
Virtual desktop infrastructure: Enjoy excellent performance, easy deployment, and cost effectiveness