Hosting Windows 2003 server

[pvr]

I have a client that has software that only runs on Windows 2003 server. It is an end-of-life application that needs another 6 months to run and they have to off board from their current hardware.

I had a VM running in a US data centre (Softlayer) that was working fine with Win2003 - however they no longer have hardware there that will support another image so I am left high and dry.

Does anyone know of any data centre where I can have a Win2003 server running - unsupported mode of course?

 

[stuartC]

Amazon EC2 Instance?

 

[Bing]

https://www.cogecopeer1.com/en-gb/services/cloud/mission-critical/

 

[pvr]

Interesting - thanks guys. My searches did not hit anything and my UK Provider Rackspace just turned me away even though I have a whole host of servers there.

Good to see there is still something out there as I need to host this customer until they have migrated their finance system to a new one, which will be at least 6 months to a year away.

 

[synthedup]

Try http://www.ukfast.co.uk/ we use these at work, worth a call to see what they can do.

 

[pvr]

Amazon EC2 Instance?

win2003.jpg

How did you find that? I had a look at the web site and got completely lost within 30 seconds ...

 

[sp3ctre]

I have a client that has software that only runs on Windows 2003 server. It is an end-of-life application that needs another 6 months to run and they have to off board from their current hardware.

I had a VM running in a US data centre (Softlayer) that was working fine with Win2003 - however they no longer have hardware there that will support another image so I am left high and dry.

Does anyone know of any data centre where I can have a Win2003 server running - unsupported mode of course?

Interesting that it only runs on 2003 server? What sort of software is it... must be a bit of a niche case?

You could get a server that allows hyper-v, but that would rely on you having a 2003 server licence, and might also add a layer of complexity to the instance.

 

[pvr]

It is an old Finance software system. It runs Win2003 / SQL 2000. I tested the software on Server 2008, Server 2012 and it would not execute so too big a risk to try to fudge it.

The customer has provided the license for Win2003 and SQL, so I have all of that. I tested on a bare metal server in the hosting company, but it failed on ACPI compliance - could not be sorted.

 

[sp3ctre]

Try these guys, they allow you to upload your own ISO files:

https://www.vultr.com/features/uploadiso/

 

[Worcester_spoon]

I have some space in my garage and a spare 3 pin plug socket. Does that help...

 

[pvr]

I have some space in my garage and a spare 3 pin plug socket. Does that help...

Do you have the can and the wire to do the communication channel as well? :lol:

 

[stuartC]

It is an old Finance software system. It runs Win2003 / SQL 2000. I tested the software on Server 2008, Server 2012 and it would not execute so too big a risk to try to fudge it.

The customer has provided the license for Win2003 and SQL, so I have all of that. I tested on a bare metal server in the hosting company, but it failed on ACPI compliance - could not be sorted.

Hi,

Yeah there's a bit of a learning curve with AWS.

console.aws.amazon.com

Select your region (top/right) - I use Ireland

Choose: EC2 - top left

Hit Launch Instance

Scroll down, Win 2k3 is second option from bottom.

Here's the rest of the docs which are well worth reading beforehand: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/EC2_GetStarted.html?icmpid=docs_ec2_console

That they have a 12 month free-tier if you choose a small enough spec - useful to test with. If you need full SQL Server 2000 then you may be struggling for disk space on that tier, but I've had some prototypes running reasonably well with SQL Server Express on a free EC2 instance.

Cheers

 

[pvr]

Try these guys, they allow you to upload your own ISO files:

https://www.vultr.com/features/uploadiso/

Can you test that it works before committing? Just that I have paid quite a bit so far on failed attempts on various servers to load an windows 2003 iso due to compatibility issues.

If it works, I am happy to sign up with anyone who can host - just need the RDP access and full admin rights.

 

[pvr]

It is an old Finance software system. It runs Win2003 / SQL 2000. I tested the software on Server 2008, Server 2012 and it would not execute so too big a risk to try to fudge it.

The customer has provided the license for Win2003 and SQL, so I have all of that. I tested on a bare metal server in the hosting company, but it failed on ACPI compliance - could not be sorted.

Hi,

Yeah there's a bit of a learning curve with AWS.

console.aws.amazon.com

Select your region (top/right) - I use Ireland

Choose: EC2 - top left

Hit Launch Instance

Scroll down, Win 2k3 is second option from bottom.

Here's the rest of the docs which are well worth reading beforehand: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/EC2_GetStarted.html?icmpid=docs_ec2_console

That they have a 12 month free-tier if you choose a small enough spec - useful to test with. If you need full SQL Server 2000 then you may be struggling for disk space on that tier, but I've had some prototypes running reasonably well with SQL Server Express on a free EC2 instance.

Cheers

Good stuff, thanks. As long as the free tier can be used to test upload and run Win2003 - I am happy, I don't really care about the cost as the client is paying, they just need a working solution for 6 - 12 months.

 

[sp3ctre]

Try these guys, they allow you to upload your own ISO files:

https://www.vultr.com/features/uploadiso/

Can you test that it works before committing? Just that I have paid quite a bit so far on failed attempts on various servers to load an windows 2003 iso due to compatibility issues.

If it works, I am happy to sign up with anyone who can host - just need the RDP access and full admin rights.

Not sure to be honest... and looking at the AWS option I would probably favour that to be honest...

 

[stuartC]

Good stuff, thanks. As long as the free tier can be used to test upload and run Win2003 - I am happy, I don't really care about the cost as the client is paying, they just need a working solution for 6 - 12 months.

The EC2 instance will be running W2k3 from the start, you'll just need to remote desktop** into it and install SQL Server 2000 -- just make sure you choose enough hard disk space to begin with -- I think the micro instance only has 30Gb and that has to include the OS, so you're not left with much to play with.

** you'll need to look into the security groups to create a rule to allow RDP through for your external IP address. You'll also need rule(s) for accessing the software for your customers.

Gd luck