End of life systems 2024

Technologies Coming to End of Life in 2024

As we begin 2024 one of the resources you may be looking for is a list of the end of life equipment, applications and technologies that are coming to the end of their life this year. 

Here we've brought together a list of key technologies you should be looking out for as they’re coming to their end of their life, end of support or out of extended support in 2024. 

Microsoft

Azure is undergoing a number of planned changes and updates. In particular watch out for:

• Any Azure resources configured as Classic rather than Azure Resource Managed. Any resources configured in this way look to be being retired in August 2024. This includes storage and networking so check what you've got configured and make a plan to migrate them.
• Check out the changes to Azure Database for MySQL Single Server also, as this is being retired in September 2024 also.

Products that that look to be ending support completely are:

• Dynamics CRM 2013 - January 9, 2024
• Windows Server 2008 on Azure security update Year 4 - January 9, 2024 with no further announced updates after this.
• SQL Server 2024 - July 9, 2024
• Check out the .Net end of support dates also to make sure you're underlying apps aren't depending on a framework that is no longer supported. I know for example .Net 7 is coming to the end of it's servicing life in 2024 and will need to be updated.

Each of these could mean big changes in 2024 depending on the workloads hosted on them and the impact of migrating to newer platforms.

Windows 2019 goes into extended support also in January so it's another operating system to look out for and ensure you've got the right extended support arrangements in place as part of your Microsoft Agreement.

If you're using Microsoft hardware, have a look at Surface pro 5th gen, Surface studio 2, Surface Laptop 3, Surface pro 7, Surface Go 2 and the Surface Laptop Go for end of servicing dates for firmware and drivers as you might need to factor these into a refresh in 2024. Some are as early as January that the service and firmware driver availability is limited from. This is a separate link for those dates if interested in this - 

Physical Servers, Storage & Compute Systems 

Several physical servers will be reaching their end of life in 2024. These servers may no longer receive hardware support, software updates, or compatibility with newer technologies, meaning checking your warranties and support arrangements is key. Bolstering these warranties from 3rd party services could be key to a robust and available infrastructure in 2024. These include:

• IBM -  Look out for System Storage devices going end of service life in 2024 such as the DS8800 storage devices and the Power E800 series converged infrastructure platforms. Some Storwize storage devices and Z13 mainframe devices are also areas of IBM hardware to look out for. A list of these can be found here
• HP  - Some G9 Proliant servers come EOSL in 2024 such as the DL580 G9 and BL660C G9 blade server. Accompanying blade enclosure BLC3000 and a number of Nimble HPC storage devices (SF, CS and AF ranges) appear to also be EOSL in 2024. More information can be found here
• Dell  - For Dell, look out for the EqualLogic range of storage devices going EOSL in 2024 including PS41, 42, 61, 62, 65 and 6600 device ranges. In addition FS7600 ranges and ISILON NAS HD400 storage devices are also EOSL in 2024. See this link for more information on DELL equipment coming end of life
• Cisco - Watch out for the likes of the HyperFlex HX-Series hyperconverged infrastructure solutions and a range of UCS blades going EOSL in 2024. For more information see here

 VMware 

Whilst there may be no big retirement milestones for VMware as far as I can see, there are a number of products at various patch levels entering the end of general support and some entering the end of technical guidance, meaning support in effect is more difficult to get hold of. Highlights include a number of services that could affect how you manage and deploy end user virtual compute environments:

• Site Recovery Manager - 8.3 and 8.4 both come to the end of technical guidance in April 2024 with 8.5 also coming out of Technical guidance in 2024.
• ThinApp - 2111 goes end of technical guidance at the end of November 2024 with 2203 comign end of general support in April, potentially impacting how you virtualise applications within your VMWare estate.
• App Volumes - Watch out for various different app volumes features coming out of general support and some that are also coming out of technical guidance affecting how you present apps if using VMware Horizon.
• Dynamic Environment Manager 10 - DEM 10 has a number of releases going end of technical guidance in 2024 with the latest release coming out of general support in 2024.
• Horizon 8 - There are number of releases of Horizon 8 to watch out for coming out of general support in 2024.

Networks & Security

There are a number of network switch, load balancer and security devices entering end of service life in 2024. Being on top of these could be intrinsic to protecting your organisation from cyber attacks and preventing valuable downtime, outages or even fines for your organisation. Some highlights and where to find out more information is listed below:

• Cisco - Watch our for Meraki MR and MS series devices coming end of service life in 2024, affecting wireless provision, management and security. The Nexus 5500 series switches go end of service life at the end of May and also watch out for some of the Nexus 7000 components going end of service life also. https://parkplacetechnologies.com/eosl/cisco/
  
• Juniper - Some specialist kit like the BTI Series products that are usually used by telecoms companies are going end of life in 2024. Also look out for some software defined network platforms (Contrail) and Junos software (Connectivity services director) software going end of support in 2024. There's also some EX series switches going end of support in 2024 and watch out for some MX series switches losing the ability to convert the warranty in June 2024 to get extended support. Similarly with some NFX devices, PTX devices, QFX devices, SRX Firewalls, STRM devices converting the warranty deadlines needs checking for 2024. Watch out for a number of SRX firewalls also going end of support in 2024 and a number of T series router modules also going end of support. https://support.juniper.net/support/eol/

Other

Oracle 

• Oracle Linux - Linux 6 comes finishes it's run of extended support in December 2024 with Linux 7 coming into extended support from premier support also in December 2024.
• Oracle VM - VM3 finishes extended support in June 2024, with the Verrazzano Enterprise Container Platform also ending premier support later in the year in October 2024.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 

• RHEL Linux - Watch out for RHEL 6 coming out of extended life cycle add-on support at the end of June 2024 and RHEL 7 coming out of maintenance support period 2 in June 2024. RHEL 8 Full support ends at the end of May also so watch out for that also.

There are a tonne of other things you can look for end of life on, or end of service life dates on here 

Proactive Planning and Migration

Upon reaching EOL, unsupported technologies may become more susceptible to security vulnerabilities and compatibility issues. To ensure continued security and stability, it's essential to plan for the transition to newer, supported solutions.

• Identify affected systems and applications: Conduct a thorough inventory of all systems and applications that utilize the EOL-bound technologies.
• Schedule migration timelines: Develop a realistic timeline for migrating, updating or retiring affected systems and applications to supported alternatives.
• Consider third-party support: If migration is not feasible, explore options for extending support from third-party providers.
• Consult with IT experts: Seek guidance from experienced IT professionals to ensure a smooth and secure migration process.

Staying abreast of EOL dates and proactively planning for transitions are crucial for maintaining business continuity, ensuring cybersecurity, and avoiding compliance risks. By taking informed action, organisations can mitigate potential disruptions and ensure their IT infrastructure remains up-to-date and secure.

If you are using any of these technologies, it is important to start planning for their retirement, enhanced warranties or updates and patching to bring them up to the latest versions as soon as possible. This will give you time to find and implement new solutions, or find resources to enable the updates to take place.