Hello.
I'm an IT admin and recently my company inherited a particular old server running Windows 2003.
My only concern is the HW failing on me so my immediate thought was to convert the server into a VM, which is something I last did 4 or 5 years ago, but the process is now a bit different. The VCC Standalone is now a small client software/agent that is installed on the physical server. No more Converter CD to boot the server in offline mode.
This way I have to install something on the server and I void the contract. If anything goes bad they will cut my head off...
Is there any way I can somehow create a boot CD with VCC standalone? This way I wouldn't install anything on the server (not voiding the contract).
*** Read just in case you're wondering why I need this ***
A two company merger made me responsible for a hand full of old physical servers, most of them still on Windows 2003.
These servers are out of support from both OS vendor and hardware vendor!
For now, our biggest concern is with theirs (now ours too...) accounting server. We are forced by national law to maintain accounting records for 15 years and we can be held responsible if we fail to do so. They can penalize us very hard and can shut us down.
Now, the other company let this happen because they decided to stop using this accounting software 8 years ago and they started using another product, which means we still have 7 years ahead of us...
The hardware is a "white label" server for which they say they had a contract but I couldn't find any evidence. Two 72GB SATA 8 years old RAID 0 hdd's ready to die on my hands. Yep, you read it right, RAID 0. Apparently 72GB (RAID 1) was somehow not enough for a Windows 2003 installation with MSSQL and the accounting software. Ridiculous!
They stopped paying the HW contract because they decommissioned the accounting software and thought they could just let the server be there for 15 years rotting and not being responsible for it.
No backups either. This company apparently never had a backup plan because they didn't have an IT admin. Makes me wonder how they got this far...
Just to spice things further, this old accounting software has a valid contract but the contract says that we can't install anything on the server or else we void the contract.
They say they added that clause to the contract because the company "we bought" didn't want to pay contracts for both the new and the old accounting software. So they made up a contract that if the accounting software stops due to a bug they will solve it. But if it's because of a Windows update or some software that we installed or some HW problem, we are responsible and we have to deal with it. I'd rather not pay contract, period...
Bottom line, one thing lead to the other and now I have a time bomb ticking in my hands.
On the board meeting they laughed and said that's why they pay me...
Too bad they don't have a clue.
*** End of explaining ***