“Context” is a word that comes up frequently here in the Migration Expert Zone; often describing how something should be done depends extensively upon the context in which it is to be done. This is especially true when configuring a server operating system onto a particular kind of server hardware. Most manufacturers strive to create at least the appearance of superiority for their product, and these differences create differing contexts.

The Dell TechCenter Blog provides excellent guidance for those choosing to use Dell servers to deploy Microsoft Windows Server 2012, starting with an excellent post entitled “Migration to Microsoft Windows Server 2012: Readiness Check for the Big Leap.” Originally written by Barun Chaudhary and Perumal Raja from the Dell Enterprise Operating System Engineering Team, the article provides a comprehensive checklist for migrating to Windows Server 2012 on Dell servers.

Some of the checklist items seem obvious, like making sure the Dell Server you’ve selected supports Windows Server 2012, but then it supplies the tools to do so, including a link, which will help you check the BIOS/FW version, and an Early Adopters’ Guide to check storage support for PowerEdge Expandable RAID and other peripherals. Workarounds are also provided.

This is followed by an extensive upgrade path table that many Zone readers will find very useful. 

Perhaps most useful about this blog post (which should be a model for similar future posts) is that links are provided to many useful tools and resources, including installation guides, details on multilingual features, lists of drivers, the advantages of using Dell OpenManage and an all-important general list of known issues and workarounds.

The Microsoft Server & Tools Division hosts several blogs in which broad resources are made available, but by necessity most of these are targeted across the broad selection of server hardware available in the IT industry.  These posts in the Dell TechCenter blogs can be depended upon to give hands-on, immediately applicable step-by-step information that will enable IT professionals to implement and deploy their new servers quickly and accurately.