End of Life (EOL) coming soon for Windows Server 2012 Downgrades and RDS CALs

[Willa]

Did you know that Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Remote Desktop Services (RDS) User and Device Client Access Licenses (CALs) will be reaching their End of Life (EOL) dates soon? In addition, Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Downgrades for Standard and Datacenter editions will also be reaching their EOL dates.

HPE OEM part numbers for these products have been set with the below EOL dates. 

End of Life (EOL)	Discontinue	Obsolete
9/30/2018	10/31/2018	11/30/2018

Please note, after the Obsolete date, HPE cannot distribute any of these products. However, for any units that have been distributed from HPE to a partner (e.g. a Distributor or Reseller), the partner may continue selling the inventory they own. If there is any obsolete product inventory on the HPE side, HPE must then return the product to Microsoft.

Windows Server RDS CALs
Windows Server 2016 RDS CALs OEM part numbers will continue to be available up to the end of March 2019.
The following is a detailed list of HPE part numbers to be discontinued:

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 RDS CALs
Type	SKU	Product Description	Language	Region
Device CALs	701604-A21	MS WS12 RDS CAL 5 DEV EMEA Lic	English, Czech, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Turkish	EMEA
Device CALs	701604-DN1	MS WS12 RDS CAL 5DEV en/fr/es/xc Lic	English, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese	AMS
Device CALs	701604-371	MS WS12 RDS CAL 5DEV en/ko Lic	English, Korean	APJ
Device CALs	701604-291	MS WS12 RDS CAL 5DEV ja Lic	Japanese	APJ
User CALs	701605-A21	MS WS12 RDS CAL 5USR EMEA Lic	English, Czech, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Turkish	EMEA
User CALs	701605-DN1	MS WS12 RDS CAL 5USR en/fr/es/xc Lic	English, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese	AMS
User CALs	701605-371	MS WS12 RDS CAL 5USR en/ko Lic	English, Korean	APJ
User CALs	701605-291	MS WS12 RDS CAL 5USR ja Lic	Japanese	APJ

Windows Server Downgrades
Windows Server 2012 Downgrades provided through the Windows Server Media and Downgrade fulfillment website https://ebiz3.mentormediacorp.com/HPEDGRCR/ will also follow the same End of Life dates.

Downgrades to Windows Server 2012 R2 will continue to be available for HPE customers from the factory at the time of the server purchase and as a post-sale option at the fulfillment site listed above. Downgrades are provided to customers based on Microsoft policy.

The following is a detailed list of HPE part numbers available from factory to be discontinued:

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Downgrades
Type	SKU	Product Description	Language	Region
Reseller Option Kit (ROK)	782516-291	MS WS 2012 DG STD ROK ja SW	Japanese	APJ
Factory Drop in Box (FIO Npi)	756691-B21	MS WS 2012 DG STD FIO NPI E/F/I/G/S SW	English, French, Italian, German, Spanish	AMS/EMEA
Factory Drop in Box (FIO Npi)	756691-291	MS WS 2012 DG STD FIO NPI	Japanese	APJ
Factory Drop in Box (FIO Npi)	756691-371	MS WS 2012 DG STD FIO NPI ja SW	English, Korean	APJ
Factory Drop in Box (FIO Npi)	756691-A41	MS WS 2012 DG STD FIO NPI en/pl/pt/ru/sv/tr/cz/nl SW	English, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Turkish, Czech, Dutch	EMEA
Factory Drop in Box (FIO Npi)	756692-B21	MS WS 2012 DG Datacntr FIO NPI E/F/I/G/S SW	English, French, Italian, German, Spanish	AMS/EMEA
Factory Drop in Box (FIO Npi)	756692-291	MS WS 2012 DG Datacntr FIO NPI ja SW	Japanese	APJ
Factory Drop in Box (FIO Npi)	756692-371	MS WS 2012 DG Datacntr FIO NPI en/ko SW	English, Korean	APJ

Customers who have purchased Windows Server 2016 OS licenses from HPE can continue to request any of the available downgrade kits directly from HPE or through the Windows Server Media and Downgrades Fulfillment website listed above.

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