END OF LIFE June 2019 update Windows 10 v.1709, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 (extended support) & R2, and ISDN shut-off. www.brennanit.com.au INTRODUCTION Welcome to the Jun-19 End of Life update. Included in this report are the details of hardware and software that have or are soon to reach the manufacturers End of Life date. CONTENTS At Brennan IT, we consider a technology’s End of Life to be when the 3 ISDN manufacturer states it to be. As well as presenting a potentially serious security risk, if you choose to continue to run technology beyond it being 4 Windows 10 v.1709 sunsetted it could affect our SLAs and you could incur additional costs related to servicing, supporting and remedying any problem caused by a 5 Windows 7 failure of the technology. We strongly advise any customer (or external organisation) running any of 6 Windows Server 2008 the listed technologies to speak to their account or service manager to discuss their options and plan their migration before the deadlines or to contact us via: DISCLAIMER All dates, clauses and details were correct at time www.brennanit.com.au of creation 01-Jun-19. [email protected] This document does not affect any agreed 1300 500 000 deviation or non-standard contractual clauses. This document is not meant to be an exhaustive list of End of Life hardware/software. ISDN As part of the NBN roll-out, Telstra is decommissioning Australia’s copper network. Accordingly, the carrier has stopped the sale of ISDN2, ISDN2 Enhanced, ISDN10/20/30, DDS Fastway, Megalink and Frame Relay products, and all products reliant on will be switched off completely by 2022. The task of rebuilding your organisation's phone system, including porting numbers, will take time and we strongly encourage action now. Summary of the key dates you need to be aware of: • 30-Jun-18 – Full cease sale on new or additional ISDN services for all customers. No new services will be available. [complete] • 01-Jun-19 – Disconnection commenced for existing ISDN connections. [underway] • By 2022 – All ISDN connections will be disconnected, and full network will be decommissioned. Failure to make provisions for this change could result in delays in transitioning, leading to potential down-time and outages. The choice is to replace ISDN with one of two options: • Replace ISDN and all dedicated Phone System/PBX hardware with a Hosted PBX which provides voice calls in and out along with call routing, IVR and voicemail on a subscription model, including a modern handset and even Mobile App. • Replace ISDN lines with SIP Trunks over a data network connection and upgrade or replace your dedicated Phone System/PBX along with handsets to be compatible. Speak to Brennan IT to discuss which option, or combination of options, would be the right fit for your organisation. WINDOWS 10 v.1709 Windows 10 now undertake bi-annual ‘Feature Updates’ (termed by Microsoft as ‘Semi-Annual Channel’) in March and September every year. It is possible to defer deploying these if, for example, problems are expected post- update with integration or device support, and Microsoft will service the older version for 18 months after its initial release date. This means that if you do not update your Windows 10 instance within 18 months, then it will no receive critical security or other patches via the monthly ‘Quality Updates’ releases and become classed as End of Life. Many organisations are currently running Windows 10 version 1709, which became ‘End of Life’ on 09-Apr-19 for Home, Pro, and Pro Workstations (Enterprise and Education EOL 14-Apr-20). It is critical, therefore, for organisations still running version 1709 to take immediate action because, as well as presenting a security risk, it may affect the costs incurred whilst supporting your instance. End of Life: End of Life: Version Date available Home, Pro, & Pro Enterprise & Workstations Education Version 1903 21-May-19 08-Dec-20 08-Dec-20 Version 1809 13-Nov-18 12-May-20 11-May-21 Version 1803 30-Apr--18 12-Nov-19 10-Nov-20 Version 1709 17-Oct-17 09-Apr-19 14-Apr-20 Version 1703 05-Apr-17 09-Oct-18 08-Oct-19 WINDOWS 7 Windows 7’s ‘Extended Support’ agreement expires on 14-Jan-20 and, as such, will therefore be deemed End of Life on this date. Continuing to run Windows 7 on your organisation’s devices beyond this date (or paying for extended security support from Microsoft, starting at AU$70 per device for 1 year) represents a significant financial and security risk to your business. For most organisations, we recommend moving to Windows 10, which provides significant benefits in terms of both speed and functionality, however making the switch may not be straightforward due to legacy technologies and integrations, as well as the increased minimum hardware specifications demanded of it: • Processor: 1GHz or faster • RAM: 1GB for 32-bit or 2GB for 64-bit • Hard disk space: 16GB for 32-bit OS 20GB for 64-bit OS • Graphics card: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver • Display: 800 x 600 resolution. Failure to take action could leave your organisation open to serious security risks and the transition is likely to take time, so we strongly advise organisations currently running Windows 7 begin scoping and planning their transition now. Brennan IT can provide you with support to upgrade to Windows 10 (or another operating system) and procuring new devices to run it, so please speak to your account or service manager to discuss your needs, the options, and to start planning your upgrade. WINDOWS SERVER 2008 On 14-Jan-20, Windows Server 2008 ‘Extended Support’ will be terminated (it reached ‘End of Life’ in 2015) and the Windows Server 2008 R2 editions will be sunsetted. No new security updates, fixes or features will be added after this date and Microsoft will not be offering any extended support options for any Windows Server 2008 R2 variants (Datacenter, Enterprise, Standard and Hyper-V). Any organisation running a Windows Server 2008 variant beyond this date will be open to significant and growing security risks. All organisations should, therefore, be looking at how they can transition to a new solution. Additionally, Brennan IT will no longer be able to provide standard resolution SLAs for customers running Windows Server 2008 beyond this date and additional work prompted by any security breach is likely to incur additional costs. We strongly advise that you begin planning what you’re going to do now, whether that’s upgrading to a more recent version of Windows Server (the latest is 2019 and could require new hardware) or migrating your applications somewhere else. Brennan IT can help you with the process and in assessing what the best option for your organisation will be, so please speak to your account or service manager today to begin your transition. Voted Australia’s No.1 Managed Services Provider for the past 9 years. For over 20 years we’ve been committed to making our clients’ lives easier. It all started with a realisation that Australian businesses could be so much more - if only they were able to leave IT to the experts and focus on what they do best: their business. We do it by offering the mid-market exactly what they need: professionalism, know-how, simplicity and the same passion for their business as they have. We can help you to: • Manage & innovate with technology Adopt & do more with Hybrid IT • Speak to us today: • Better support your workforce • Connect your business & teams www.brennanit.com.au • Secure & protect your organisation 1300 500 000 [email protected] Published June 2019 SYDNEY BRISBANE MELBOURNE MUMBAI NEWCASTLE.