Not tax but server software question

[Pacun]

I just retired a Server 2008 R2... but I would like to keep it sharing files but I need to upgrade it to Server 2012 and then to server 2019.  That means that I will invest about $2K buying Windows server 2012 and 2019.  Does anyone know where I can buy cheap software? 

The server 2012 upgrade software, I will use it only for a couple of hours and then upgrade to 2019 where it will be my final destination.  There is no direct flight from 2008 R2 to 2019, so I will have to upgrade to 2012 and then upgrade again to 2019.

[DevM]

10 hours ago, Pacun said:

I just retired a Server 2008 R2... but I would like to keep it sharing files but I need to upgrade it to Server 2012 and then to server 2019.  That means that I will invest about $2K buying Windows server 2012 and 2019.  Does anyone know where I can buy cheap software? 

The server 2012 upgrade software, I will use it only for a couple of hours and then upgrade to 2019 where it will be my final destination.  There is no direct flight from 2008 R2 to 2019, so I will have to upgrade to 2012 and then upgrade again to 2019.

Why not do a complete install of 2019, rather than upgrade.

Copy your Data Drive to external drive. Complete new 2019 install and copy from external drive.

Microsoft has Server 2019 software (Essential) for $529.

[Abby Normal]

You don't need special server software to run a server. We just have a modestly priced windows 10 computer in a closet that everyone accesses. You just share the drives/folders that contain the data.

[Pacun]

11 hours ago, DevM said:

Why not do a complete install of 2019, rather than upgrade.

Copy your Data Drive to external drive. Complete new 2019 install and copy from external drive.

Microsoft has Server 2019 software (Essential) for $529.

That server hosts the data from 2013 to 2019 tax years that proseries accesses.  I called proseries and they said that in order to move that data, I had to uninstall and reinstall every year. Then I have to export the data and that takes time. To add the pain, they have about 20 returns each year with password. When it is time to export a file with password, the program doesn't continue until you skip it or you enter the correct password. The process takes about 3 hours but with that stoppage for passwords it could take a whole day. Then you have to go to each computer (total of 10) and install the new program. 

As you can see, this is not a choice of having a new server or a workstation with shared drives but using the existing server and its contents. 

I already have a clean install on a new server 2019 which is the KING of the forest with all the roles properly working. But if I transfer the data, I have to install on the main computer and import the files and then go to install on all 10 computer. Since there are 7 years of taxes, it is a lot of work.

I guess tax software is the only field where data migration is a nightmare.  Instead of improving, they are going harder each year. I remember when ATX, you would copy the database folder and you could point the program to use it without uninstalling.

It is amazing also that proseries, which cost about 6K (not all states), doesn't have an elegant way to migrate the data when replacing a server.

[DevM]

13 hours ago, Pacun said:

That server hosts the data from 2013 to 2019 tax years that proseries accesses.  I called proseries and they said that in order to move that data, I had to uninstall and reinstall every year. Then I have to export the data and that takes time. To add the pain, they have about 20 returns each year with password. When it is time to export a file with password, the program doesn't continue until you skip it or you enter the correct password. The process takes about 3 hours but with that stoppage for passwords it could take a whole day. Then you have to go to each computer (total of 10) and install the new program. 

As you can see, this is not a choice of having a new server or a workstation with shared drives but using the existing server and its contents. 

I already have a clean install on a new server 2019 which is the KING of the forest with all the roles properly working. But if I transfer the data, I have to install on the main computer and import the files and then go to install on all 10 computer. Since there are 7 years of taxes, it is a lot of work.

I guess tax software is the only field where data migration is a nightmare.  Instead of improving, they are going harder each year. I remember when ATX, you would copy the database folder and you could point the program to use it without uninstalling.

It is amazing also that proseries, which cost about 6K (not all states), doesn't have an elegant way to migrate the data when replacing a server.

Agreed. It is time consuming.

In December, I bought a new Server with R2019 and did that as ATX 2020 will not install on R2012. I only put 3 years on other workstations except mine (Which has 10yrs). Still have old server as back up for prior years and connected to other work stations(in case if needed).