A company has several legacy applications running on Windows Server 2008 R2, which is approaching end-of-life support. These applications have strict dependencies on specific Windows features and cannot be easily re-platformed to newer Windows Server versions or Linux. The company wants to migrate these applications to AWS to reduce on-premises infrastructure costs and improve operational resilience, without extensive re-architecture. Which migration strategy and service should be used?
- ARepurchase commercial SaaS solutions that replicate the functionality of the legacy applications.
- BRehost the applications onto Amazon EC2 instances running Windows Server 2008 R2, leveraging AWS End-of-Life Extended Support.
- CReplatform the applications to Amazon EC2 instances running Windows Server 2019, manually resolving compatibility issues.
- DRefactor the applications into .NET Core microservices on AWS Lambda.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Rehost the applications onto Amazon EC2 instances running Windows Server 2008 R2, leveraging AWS End-of-Life Extended Support.
Rehosting the applications on EC2 with the original Windows Server 2008 R2 allows for minimal changes while migrating to AWS. AWS offers Extended Support for Windows Server EOL versions, providing a viable path for applications that cannot be easily updated or replatformed, thus meeting the goal of reducing on-premises costs and improving resilience without extensive re-architecture.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Repurchasing might be a long-term solution but typically involves high upfront costs, data migration, and does not address migrating the *existing* applications as requested.
- C. Replatforming to Windows Server 2019 would require significant re-engineering and testing due to strict dependencies, which contradicts the 'without extensive re-architecture' requirement.
- D. Refactoring to .NET Core microservices is a significant re-architecture effort, directly conflicting with the 'without extensive re-architecture' constraint.
AWS End-of-Life Extended Support
AWS provides options, such as Extended Security Updates (ESU) for Windows Server and SQL Server, to allow customers to continue running applications on unsupported operating systems in EC2.
- Enables migration of legacy workloads to AWS without immediate OS upgrades.
- Helps bridge the gap for applications with strict OS dependencies.
- Reduces immediate re-architecture costs but is a temporary solution.
Memory trick: When old OS is due, AWS helps you 'renew'.