Windows Server 2012 Evaluation - Options

Pricy147

My HP Pro-liant Server running an evaluation edition of Windows Server 2012 has now reached the point where I can no longer re-arm and extend the license period.


Unfortunately - I didn't get a chance to backup my data before hand, and it now shuts down every one hour.


The Operating System is on an SSD drive, while the data resides on two other hard-drives.


I could look to upgrade to evaluation edition of Server 2016 - but worried about losing any data / and/or data becoming inaccessible.


Anyone with experience of this? Not going to spend £600 to buy Server 2012 when its just for home use.


Thought of physically removing data drives before upgrade - but again will they be readable after upgrade!?


Any other OS options instead of server that are free ?


Thanks

WobblyDog

I don't know of any free Windows Server options, but Windows Server 2016 Essentials costs about £300. Windows Server 2012 Foundation is cheaper but unfortunately only available with new servers.

You could migrate to various versions of Linux, but that depends on what applications you are running. MS are porting SQL Server to Linux for example.

Do you really need a server OS, or would Windows 10 do?

were

A few questions: have enabled encryption on those two drives? Are those two drives raided (software ir hardware?), or set up as standard e: and f:?

You know someone will say linux. Home use for what?

joeypesci

I think I'm going to say what Were is going to say. If the drives aren't encrypted or in a raid you could put them in a drive caddy and backup the data that way from within Windows 7 or Windows 10. Both drives should be NTFS. But only if not encrypted. If they are encrypted then they won't be readable from a caddy.

The upgrade shouldn't make the drives unreadable but as you know, it's always good to backup before upgrading to be on the safe side.

As others have said, the only free server software is Linux.

DavidP24

Pricy147 wrote: »

My HP Pro-liant Server running an evaluation edition of Windows Server 2012 has now reached the point where I can no longer re-arm and extend the license period.

Unfortunately - I didn't get a chance to backup my data before hand, and it now shuts down every one hour.

The Operating System is on an SSD drive, while the data resides on two other hard-drives.

I could look to upgrade to evaluation edition of Server 2016 - but worried about losing any data / and/or data becoming inaccessible.

Anyone with experience of this? Not going to spend £600 to buy Server 2012 when its just for home use.

Thought of physically removing data drives before upgrade - but again will they be readable after upgrade!?

Any other OS options instead of server that are free ?

Thanks

First thing I would want to do is take an image of the partitions, so I could roll back.

Fact is I build a hidden copy of Win partition as soon as built.

If they were too big to clone I would start by exporting the certificates and importing them to another computer. Then backup about 45 minutes work of files, then copy those to other computer.

You could export the windows profile to a VM of 2016, then copy data files.

You have plenty of options, you just have to break them down into sub 1 hour tasks.

were

joeypesci wrote: »

I think I'm going to say what Were is going to say. If the drives aren't encrypted or in a raid you could put them in a drive caddy and backup the data that way from within Windows 7 or Windows 10. Both drives should be NTFS. But only if not encrypted. If they are encrypted then they won't be readable from a caddy.

The upgrade shouldn't make the drives unreadable but as you know, it's always good to backup before upgrading to be on the safe side.

As others have said, the only free server software is Linux.

you are half right, but was going to suggest if the drives were bog standard e: and f: just to wipe c: and start again.

Also the free versions of reboot-restore-rx, or commodo time machine,may also help him out, if he can get them to work on servers.

jshm2

You should first snapshot the setup anyway in case things go wrong. But if Ubuntu server is too much for you then Amah or Apache should do you well.

Alternatively why not just go Cloud or Hybrid instead if you're not requiring Window Server premium features?

NiftyDigits

What is the full model number of the HP Server?

You could convert the evaluation version to a standard version in the first instance; http://mutterances.com/windows-server-2012-evaluation-convert-activate-to-fully-licensed/

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj612867.aspx

Then from there to OEM licencing.

onomatopoeia99

Those links seem to presuppose that the use has a volume licence, which the OP has not indicated they have.

OP, what is it you actually want to do with this server? That will inform the choice of OS to use. The Microsoft Windows Server series of OS are pretty stable nowadays, but as you have noted they are not cheap and not something Microsoft are much inclined to give away.

psychic_teabag

were wrote: »

A few questions: have enabled encryption on those two drives? Are those two drives raided (software ir hardware?), or set up as standard e: and f:?

You know someone will say linux.

If the drives aren't encrypted, you could boot one of the many linux demo distributions from CD and use that to backup the data. If they are encrypted, that would at least let you do an image backup, but that's only useful if you'd be able to recover whatever keys are needed if the upgrade goes wrong.

NiftyDigits

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

Those links seem to presuppose that the use has a volume licence, which the OP has not indicated they have.

OP, what is it you actually want to do with this server? That will inform the choice of OS to use. The Microsoft Windows Server series of OS are pretty stable nowadays, but as you have noted they are not cheap and not something Microsoft are much inclined to give away.

Whilst that might be your understanding, it does not mean that is the case.
It's the solution, conversion and then activation. That way the data and OS install are not at risk.