Windows Server 2016 loses support in January 2027 and VMware is now per core: managed servers and virtualisation, five-year cost. No-commitment proposal.
More than 10 workstations · support contract · remote, on-site and phone support
For decision-makers short on time.
A server without security patches is a door left open for good, and a VMware licence that multiplies in price is budget taken from somewhere else. DataRoad - IT Services and Consulting, one of Portugal's reference providers of servers, virtualisation and managed IT, measures what you have, compares three routes on five-year total cost and tells you which one we would take, even when the answer is to stay as you are. In 2027 this choice stops being optional. Headquartered in Alfragide, with support across Portugal. Request an assessment.
It costs security and money, on a fixed date.
Gartner figures cited by the trade press point to licences three to four times more expensive after the move to subscription. On an infrastructure of two or three hosts, that changes the calculation completely.
Dates are published by Microsoft and Broadcom and may change. Always check the official lifecycle before investing.
There are three honest answers. The wrong one is paid for over five years. We always show the hidden cost of each.
| Route | Wins when | Paid for with |
|---|---|---|
| New hardware in the office | Applications need low latency or large files on the LAN; stable load; server at end of life | Upfront investment, space, power, another replacement in five years, day-to-day management |
| Consolidate and switch hypervisor | The VMware bill no longer matches your size; common workloads (files, database, ERP) | Migration project, downtime windows, drivers and backups to redo |
| Cloud | Dispersed team, irregular growth, a wish never to buy hardware again | A permanent monthly fee; legacy ERP, hardware-bound licences and terabytes of projects drive costs up |
Hyper-V already comes with Windows Server. Proxmox carries no licence cost, but needs people who know it well. Without that expertise, the saving becomes a risk.
In most cases the final design is hybrid: email and documents in the cloud, ERP and large data in-house. It is almost always the lowest cost. Detailed analysis in replace, virtualise or move to the cloud.
We come on site. We count servers, measure loads and peaks, list licences and check the age of every disk. Without that picture, any quote is a guess, ours included.
You receive a document with the three routes, the five-year cost of each and our recommendation. It is yours, whether you go ahead with us or another partner.
Chosen by respected and international companies
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★★★★★ 5,0 · 52 Google reviewsSee server and network projects we keep in production in the DataRoad news.
Yes, in most cases, because virtualisation shortens recovery. A VM restarts on other hardware in hours; a bare-metal installation can take days and depends on finding an identical part. If two days of downtime are unacceptable for the company, virtualisation pays for itself at the first serious failure.
It keeps working, but stops receiving security patches. Every vulnerability discovered from then on stays exploitable indefinitely, raising the risk for the whole network. Extended Security Updates via Azure Arc are paid and time-limited: they help you plan the exit calmly, not avoid it.
It depends on scale and on who runs the platform. Up to two or three hosts with common workloads, Hyper-V does the job and is already paid for in the Windows Server licence. Proxmox is stable, but only pays off with people who know how to run it. In larger environments or with specific dependencies, keeping VMware remains a valid option.
For most companies, the cheapest answer is a mix of both, decided workload by workload. Email and office documents win in the cloud. An ERP with a hardware-bound licence or tens of terabytes of project files wins on premises, on cost and on speed. The assessment compares the options over five years before any decision.
As a rule, one week of assessment, two to four of preparation and testing and one weekend for cut-over. Migration runs in a scheduled window with a rollback plan ready, and every application is tested before the old machine is switched off. Delays come from old applications with no installer, licence or support, not from the technology.
There is almost always a warning: disks and RAID controllers alert days in advance, and monitoring picks it up. If it fails without warning, the backup takes over: with VMs and tested copies, the server comes back on other hardware the same day. 24/7 monitoring and night, weekend and public holiday intervention exist only in the Premium 365 plan.
We measure, compare and recommend, in writing. Ongoing management is provided only under an IT Unlimited contract: we do not sell standalone equipment or carry out one-off jobs. Request a no-commitment proposal. Book an assessment.
More than 10 workstations · support contract · remote, on-site and phone support. +351 211 459 950 * · sales@dataroad.pt
*Call to a Portuguese landline.
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Partners and certifications
DataRoad · Servers and continuity
Redundant internet, failover and power autonomy: continuity designed before the failure, not after.
We do IT right.
Documentation, inventory and one contact who answers for everything.
More than 10 workstations · support contract · remote, on-site and phone support
DataRoad works only for companies under an IT Unlimited contract. We do not take subcontracted work or one-off call-outs.
