Closure Report

ENT023 – Windows Server 2016 Upgrades

Approvals

Distribution

Project Summary

The purpose of this project was to prioritise and migrate the existing Windows Server 2003 and 2008 server estate to Windows Server 2016 prior to the end-of–support date of 14/01/2020 for Windows Server 2008.

Clearly, the upgrading, migration and/or decommissioning of servers was dependent on the application and, to some extent, the layered software products e.g. database, installed on the server being available to run on Windows Server 2016. Several options were possible viz. –

• Upgrade a server to Windows Server 2016 if the application was available to run on Windows Server 2016
• Migrate the application to a new server with Windows Server 2016 installed if the application is available for Windows Server 2016 and decommission the existing server
• Build a new server if a replacement application running on Windows Server 2016 was available
• Decommission a server if the application was no longer needed

The project scope covered all teams in the University still running Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 servers. However, support from the ITI ENT Windows team was provided at differing levels dependent on the management profile for each server. Three levels of support were put in place –

• Group 1 – Direct support in upgrading, migrating and decommissioning servers

  • ITI Enterprise Services
  • USD Operational Services
  • ITI Desktop Services
  • ITI Communications Infrastructure Services
• Group 2 – Monitoring and support in upgrading, migrating and decommissioning servers identified via the INF137, and subsequently INF155, end-of-life projects
  • ISG Technology Management
  • ISG Applications Directorate
• Group 3 – Notification and monitoring of risk with support in upgrading, migrating and decommissioning servers, where possible, via Unidesk calls
• • EDINA
  • Digital Library Systems
  • Learning Spaces Technology (LTSTS)
  • Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA)
  • College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
  • College of Science and Engineering (CSE)
  • College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine (CMVM)

Objectives/Deliverables

The key objective of the project was to upgrade any existing Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 servers to Windows Server 2016, and subsequently to Windows Server 2019, which was released during the project. With the bulk of the servers running on VMware (and some Hyper-V) virtual machines (VMs), if a virtual server was to be decommissioned it meant that its resources e.g. CPU, memory, storage, IP address – would be returned to the host pool for reuse.  Any physical server no longer required after a migration was to be earmarked for secure disposal, or recycled, as required.

In addition, an extensive inventory of all Windows servers was maintained throughout the project to help identify and track the remediation of Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 servers.

At the start of the project, 358 Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 servers where identified for remediation. By the end of the project, 319 servers (89%) had been upgraded, migrated and/or decommissioned. 3 Windows Server 2003 servers and 36 Windows Server 2008 servers remain to be remediated. These servers will be tracked and remediated as a BAU exercise.

The table below shows the overall server counts by area with the completed server totals and those still to do.

^[1] Includes 3 WS2003 servers

ITI and ISO management are in the process of purchasing 1-year’s Microsoft extended security update (ESU) cover for University servers still running the Windows Server 2008 operating system.

The charts below show the number of Windows Server 2008 servers still to be remediated by (a) team and (b) application. Appendix 1 lists the Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 servers still to be remediated.

Project Quality

Project Plan

The original success criteria statement in the project brief was –

“In simple terms, success will be confirmed when there are none of the agreed to be migrated Windows Servers not upgraded to 2016 and running live in an unsupported state by the end of 2020.”

However, the end date for the project was pulled into February 2020, in line with the Microsoft end-of-support date (14/01/2020) for Windows Server 2008.

The project was initiated in January 2017, but planning was not completed until January 2018. During this period, three project managers were responsible, in turn, for the project. The original schedule, baselined in February 2018, forecast a project end date of January 2019 for Group 1 (ENT, CIS, USD, and DST) systems.

However, this work was subject to delays for various reasons including –

• delays to the Windows 10 migration programme impacted the decommissioning of Windows 7 user profile servers
• migration of live print servers could only be done during student break periods
• staff availability in the DST team and delays to the Apps Ed roll out impacted migration and decommissioning of DST supported servers
• upgrades dependent on application development projects stretched the overall timeline

The table below shows the original planned workstream exit dates against the actual dates achieved. Appendix 2 shows the final project timeline.

Project Resourcing

Project resourcing was assigned on the basis that limited time was available for staff assigned to the project. Only Group 1 resources where planned and estimated effort tracked. A maximum of 510 days was estimated for Group 1 (ENT, CIS, USD, and DST) staff and project management to work on the project, when the original forecast was estimated in January 2017. This was reduced to 475 days when project resources were re-planned in January 2018.

A key risk for the project was that planned dates would not be met due to the volume of operational work and work on other projects for these team members. Despite the significant delays to the project and the unavailability of staff at key points, the actual time spent by staff on the project was under the January 2018 forecast. Overall, it is estimated that 406 days was spent on the project. This around 15% below the second forecast. The table below shows estimated resource requirements in January 2018 versus the estimates of actual days spent on the project.

Project Budget

The project was purely resource based and did not require funding. New Windows Server 2016/2019 licences were allocated from the ENT operational budget. New VMs were configured on the existing ENT VMware hosting environments with resources from decommissioned VMs returned to the hosting resource pool. No investment was made for new physical servers or storage within the project scope.

At the end of the project, with 30+ servers still at risk, 1-year’s extended security upgrade (ESU) support was purchased from Microsoft at a cost of approximately £11,300 (including VAT) to cover these servers.

Outstanding Issues

Not all Windows Server 2003/2008 upgrades were completed during the project. The remaining servers will be monitored and upgraded, migrated and/or decommissioned under BAU by the ENT team.

Lessons Learned

The key observations from the project are summarised in the table below –

Appendix 1 – Windows Server 2003/2008 Servers still to be remediated

Appendix 2 – Final Project Timeline

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