SQL Archives - Red Level Group

Say Farewell to the old SQL, Windows, and Exchange Servers

You’ve probably heard about SQL Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 and Exchange Server 2010 hitting end of life. A lot of our clients are asking us what End-of-Support really means for them and their business? The answer requires an understanding of Microsoft’s product lifecycle. All Microsoft products have a 10-year lifecycle. The first five years is called mainstream support and that’s where you are going to get things such as new features, security updates, and non-security updates. The second five years is called extended support where you are going to receive security updates and non-security updates. During this time there is no additional product feature functionality added to the product. Important End-of-Support dates you need to be aware of: July [...]

2023-02-16T16:01:27+00:00By Justin Coffey|SQL, Windows|

End of Support for SQL and Windows 2008

What could July 9, 2019 mean to you? What about January 14th, 2020? End of support if you are using SQL or Windows 2008. That means Microsoft is no longer going to provide automatic fixes, updates, hotfixes or online technical support for any SQL or Windows 2008 servers, including R2. As a business, you want to upgrade or migrate to a newer version of these servers to ensure your servers are up to date and protected. To prepare your business for a seamless and smooth transition, whether you are planning on migrating or upgrading the servers, consider taking these actions: For SQL server - You want to start the process by identifying what’s out on your SQL server and move [...]

2023-02-16T16:01:28+00:00By Red Level|SQL, Windows|

What’s The “Power” in Microsoft’s Power BI (Business Intelligence)?

There's been tons of buzz the last few years' about big data and cloud collaboration. How can you, as a business owner, analyst or data interpreter, determine what data is good or bad for effective analytics and reporting? Let's take it a step further, how can you make usable, actionable data available throughout an organization, enable opportunities for new services, and gain vital insights from fragmented and under-analyzed data? This is the 'Power' in Microsoft's Power BI! Before we dig deeper, what is Microsoft's Power BI? Microsoft Power BI, or “business intelligence,” is an impactful cloud-based tool that transforms a company’s data into rich visuals for its employees to collect and organize so they can focus on what matters to them: getting [...]

2023-02-16T16:01:37+00:00By Red Level|Business Intelligence, cloud collaboration, dashboard, data analytics, Digital transformation, Microsoft Azure, microsoft excel, Microsoft Solution Provider, Office 365, optimization, Power BI, raw data, SQL, visualization|