Assistance Required: HP Prolaint DL 380p G5 - Migrating OS from 2003 to 2012 R2

[sabinsajeev]

Dear Techs,

I need your expert views in upgrading a HP DL 380p G5 to 2012 R2 Server Edition. Currently it is runnin on a 2003 Server. I have checked Hp's Technical White papers and noticed that G5 Series are not listed for 2012 R2 Upgrades. Also HP is listing drivers for G5 till 2008 x64. But some techs did some direct 2012 installation while others did 2012 R2 x64 first and then an inplace upgrade to 2012 R2 X64.

If someone already performed a similar upgrade from 2003 to 2012 R2 X64. Please advise and assist me for acheving the same.

Thanks in advance,

Sabin

[sabinsajeev]

Update,

After a bit of reseaching we came to conclusion that we will use Server 2008 R2 instead of 2012 R2. The reason behind this is due to the 'strict IT Auditing' policies in my organization. As DL 380P G5 is notlisted by HP for 2012 R2 upgrade it will be marked as a black mark in terms of auditing policies. 

If some one is still looking for answers the below are my results based on my research.

> as per a HP Server Tech, yes the upgrade can be done to 2012 R2 with out any issues. he mentioned its better to get the latest SPP from HP website for 380P G5 and patch the array and other controllers with latest avaialbel drivers from BIOS.

> Some usggested to upgrade to 2008R2 and then do inplace upgrade to 2012 R2. HP have all the 2008 R2 drivers so I guess when we do an inplace upgrade to 2012 R2 we shouldnt face any driver issues. (they both being x64 plat forms)

Please have a look on the below links as well.

https://www.hpe.com/h20195/v2/GetPDF.aspx/4AA4-7658ENW.pdf

https://support.cloudshare.com/hc/en-us/articles/201655660-Manually-Upgrading-to-Windows-Server-2012-R2

http://blog.powerbiz.net.au/hardware/how-to-install-windows-server-2012-on-a-hp-proliant-server/

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/data-center/how-to-install-windows-server-2012-on-hp-proliant-servers/

http://vstepic.blogspot.ae/2013/08/install-windows-server-2012-on-hp-dl.html

Thanks, 

Sabin