Microsoft extends security updates for Windows and SQL Server 2012 and 2008

Microsoft has announced Extended Security Updates for Windows Server 2008 and 2012, and for SQL Server 2012 – and made it free if you run them in its Azure cloud. The current extended support offering for Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 ends on October 10, 2023. However, Monojit Bhattacharya, a product management leader for …

[A Non e-mouse]

makes Azure the cheapest place to run Windows Server and SQL Server in the cloud

We have a small SQL Server app and were looking to move it to Azure. Until we saw the cost. Either we've misunderstood Azure's pricing calculator or anyone who runs SQL Server in Azure has more money then sense. I think the standard on-prem license broke even in under a year compared to Azure. I thought the cloud was supposed to be cheaper?!?

[Mike 137]

"I thought the cloud was supposed to be cheaper?!?"

Only to get you by the balls as an introductory offer . Thereafter they can squeeze as much as they like.

[Version 1.0]

Re: "I thought the cloud was supposed to be cheaper?!?"

"Only to get you by the balls as an introductory offer . Thereafter they can squeeze as much as they like.

Grab your balls it's canning season! Yes, the users are going to be canned.

[werdsmith]

It’s cheaper on Azure compared to on premise core licensing. Per seat CAL licenses can make it look cheaper on premise.

If you think SQL Server is expensive on Azure then check out the price of it on other cloudies.

The increasing Azure tie in for SQL Server has only pushed us to look for other RDB options. I’m sure we’re not alone. If you pay your bills by developing or admining on SQL Server, time to start adding Postgres and Maria strings to your bow.

[AMBxx]

I've been working with MS SQL for 20 years. Switched to Postgres for a recent project. Very impressed so far, but I am missing some of the stuff in management studio, especially index recommendations. Performance is generally very good and the unnest function is a life saver at the moment.

Only thing I really hate about Postgres is the case sensitivity of column and table names - even mixed case needs to be qualified or it's assumed to be lower case. Driving me nuts as I've always used camel case.

[logicalextreme]

Using IaaS and lift-and-shifting SQL Server to the cloud is crazy expensive, especially if you expect to get any sort of performance out of your disks. While I'm a fairly trad DBA who'd prefer on-prem, the rest of my organisation's stuff is in Azure and so I'm going to be making a push to have our IaaS DB servers replaced with Azure SQL DB. I suspect not having the headache of regularly migrating to new versions of SQL Server alone will make it worth it, not to mention the fact that you get to use new language features early (that would only be implemented in the standard product in the next major release).

[Potemkine!]

This scheme is not far from extortion.

[Griffo]

Buyer Beware

When Microsoft talks about Extended Security Updates, the really do mean Security Updates. Do not be fooled into thinking this means "Support".

We had the fun and joy where a bunch of 2008 servers that had been migrated to Azure became unmanageable because while 2008 has Security Updates, that does not mean that Microsoft guarantees their own products will confinue to support it. In this case, one of the Azure Product managers decided to drop 2008 support as is no longer on MS's supported OS list. Mull that for a minute.

It also doesn't mean 3rd parties will support it either - you may find your backup or AV vendor no longer provides support either.

In short - just take the pain now and upgrade to a supported platform.