Server Migration to Cloud
Migration from ageing on-premise servers to UK-hosted cloud infrastructure. File server, Active Directory, and line-of-business applications moved to reliable hosted VMs with VPN connectivity—eliminating capital expenditure and server room maintenance.
End-of-Life Hardware, Growing Risk
This manufacturing company had been running on the same on-premise servers for nearly seven years. The hardware was out of warranty, the Windows Server versions approaching end of support, and the single points of failure were becoming increasingly concerning.
A recent close call—a failed disk in the RAID array that took 18 hours to rebuild—brought the risks into sharp focus. They knew they needed to act before something catastrophic happened.
The challenges they faced:
- Two physical servers running file services, AD, print, and a legacy manufacturing application
- Server hardware 7 years old and out of warranty
- Windows Server 2012 R2 approaching extended support end
- Basic backup to local NAS with no offsite copy
- No redundancy—any hardware failure would stop production
- IT closet with no climate control or proper power protection
- Quote for replacement hardware: £25,000+ capital expenditure
They didn't want to spend £25k on new servers that would face the same problems in another 5-7 years.
Lift and Shift to Hosted Infrastructure
We proposed migrating their workloads to UK-hosted virtual servers. This would eliminate the capital expenditure, provide enterprise-grade infrastructure, and move to a predictable monthly cost model.
| Component | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure | On-premise servers in IT closet | UK datacentre hosted VMs |
| Uptime | No SLA, single points of failure | 99.9% SLA with redundancy |
| Backup | Local NAS only | Replicated to secondary DC |
| Remote Access | Port forwarding to RDP | Site-to-site VPN |
| Cost Model | £25k CapEx every 5-7 years | Predictable monthly OpEx |
Migration approach:
- Provisioned equivalent VM specifications in UK datacentre
- Installed fresh Windows Server 2022 with latest patches
- Configured site-to-site VPN between office and datacentre
- Replicated AD and promoted new domain controller
- Migrated file shares with NTFS permissions preserved
- Installed and tested manufacturing application
- Weekend cutover with rollback plan
- Decommissioned old hardware
Modern Infrastructure, Predictable Costs
The migration completed over a weekend with just 4 hours of planned downtime. Staff returned on Monday to a faster, more reliable system with no changes to their daily workflow.
£25k Saved
No hardware purchase
99.9%
Uptime SLA
Geo-Redundant
Backups replicated
Faster
Modern NVMe storage
"We were dreading a £25k hardware bill and weeks of disruption. Instead, we moved to the cloud over a weekend, saved the capital expenditure, and now have a monthly cost we can budget for. The servers are faster than the old ones ever were."
— Operations Manager, Manufacturing CompanyThe company now has enterprise-grade infrastructure without the burden of hardware ownership. Their manufacturing application runs faster on modern NVMe storage, backups are replicated to a secondary datacentre, and they have a clear upgrade path as their needs evolve.
Considering a Move to the Cloud?
Whether you're facing end-of-life hardware or just want to eliminate server room headaches, we'll design the right approach.