As most of our customers are already aware, FastServers ceased offering Windows 2000 dedicated servers earlier this year due to the support lifecycle that Microsoft has in place for the operating system. Although Microsoft has extended support in place, no further service packs will be released for the operating system and our support agreement does not cover incident support; all paid support going forward at this time.

From its initial release, Windows 2000 was a enormous leap for Microsoft within the NT Server platform. Customers migrating from Windows NT 4.0 to 2000 Server saw dramatic improvement with their web, application, and server abilities. Coupled with the release of the .NET framework, the operating system was paving a new path for the developers in Redmond. Now that the path has been established, FastServers needs to also move along the path in order to prepare customers for the next release from Microsoft.

Beginning January 1, 2007, customers currently running dedicated servers within the FastServers network will have 90 days to migrate to Windows 2003. If customers have not migrated their solutions within that 90 day period, all support, monitoring, and security updates will cease; customers will be automatically be downgraded to DEFCON support level 5. Customers should contact a sales engineer to work with them in migrating their existing solutions to either newer hardware, or having a complete backup/Windows 2003 reinstall conducted on their current environment; providing server hardware is supported. Vitally important items to keep in mind:

- Obtain updated versions of applications
- Contact the manufacturer for component updates
- CDONTS is still compatible on Windows 2003, but you must specify you need this
- Plesk 6.x is no longer supported*
- Winpanel is no longer supported
- Ensim Pro for Windows is no longer supported

* Customers currently running Plesk 6.x control panel need to immediately contact a sales engineer to begin working on a migration plan.

As noted, some customers hardware should be compatible with Windows 2003, however you will need to work with a sales engineer to determine if this will meet your needs for future upgrades, expansion. FastServers will not cease support for Windows 2000 until after the 90 day period has expired. Customers needing extensions after the 90 days must be in contact with a sales engineer to formulate a migration path. If contact has not been made within the 90 day period, no extensions will be granted to customers under any circumstances.

We apologize for the inconvenience this will cause certain customers, however we wish to stress that as Microsoft continues to deploy new, efficient, robust operating systems, components, FastServers will continue to offer these to our customers. If you have questions in regards to the mandatory upgrade, please contact a sales engineer or an administrator for further clarification/information. More information on the EOL (end of lifecycle) can be found here: http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=7274