Migration to Microsoft Windows Server 2012: Readiness Check for the Big Leap

This article provides a comprehensive checklist to be considered while migrating to Microsoft Windows Server 2012 on Dell Servers.

With Microsoft’s leap into Microsoft Windows Server 2012, the IT infrastructure of an organization is all set to traverse a new level of technologies with the wide range of features provided by this OS. As Microsoft announced the release of this OS, the adoption rates across the Industry are expected to scale to the sky.

We at Dell have performed extensive testing of this OS on all supported Dell platforms and to facilitate a smooth transition to this operating system for our customers, have come up with a helpful checklist. We highly recommend referring to the below checklist while upgrading servers to Microsoft Windows Server 2012.

Quick Checks:

Note: Dell doesn’t guarantee any data integrity during the upgrade process and hence it is highly recommended to back up your data before initiating the upgrade.

• Verify if your Dell server is supported for Windows Server 2012.  You can check this information here.

• Verify if the server contains minimum supported BIOS/FW version:
• Check the minimum BIOS/FW version required for your server to run Windows Server 2012 here. It is always recommended to use the latest BIOS which is beyond the mentioned minimum BIOS. 

• Checking the support for PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller (PERC) and other peripherals with Windows Server 2012. Refer to our Early Adopters’ Guide.

• Software RAID support, limitations and workarounds:

• Dell software RAID S100 and S300 are not supported with Windows Server 2012.Detailed support statement and workarounds can be found here.

• Considerations for Operating System editions while upgrading to Windows Server 2012:

Refer to below table for supported upgrade paths. Additionally you can refer here.

On detailed steps to install the operating system you can refer to our Installation Guide.

• Using Dell-provided Windows Server 2012 multilingual OS experience:

Dell PowerEdge servers that are shipped with Dell-installed Windows Server 2012 OS provides a multilingual experience at first boot i.e. when a customer powers on the server for the first time, he is provided with a language selection screen before login. At this stage customer can select his/her desired language and then proceed. Additionally this server also carries an OS recovery DVD media which will provide exactly the same multilingual experience for the customers when booted through it.

For more details refer here.

• Check for Driver availability:

- A detailed list of devices for which drivers are available within the OS can be found here.

- For a number of devices whose drivers are not part of OS and Dell is working to provide the drivers for our customers can be found here with its latest status or expected time to release.

• Upgrading Dell OpenManage when transitioning to Windows Server 2012:

Dell OpenManage 7.1 provides partial support and Dell OpenManage 7.2 offers comprehensive support for Windows Server 2012. For details on important considerations for upgrading your server with Dell OpenManage refer to this article.

• Known Issues:

For a list of known issues and its workaround refer to our Important Information Guide.

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