Microsoft is reminding its customers that the Exchange Server 2013 mail and calendar platform will reach end of support in about nine months from now, on April 11, 2021.
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Exchange Server 2013 entered its ninth year of service , having been released in January 2013, and had already reached its primary end date about four years ago, on April 10, 2018.
After end of support, Microsoft will stop providing technical support and bug for newly discovered issues that may affect the usability or stability of servers.
Administrators will also not receive security fixes that address vulnerabilities that affect servers running Exchange Server 2013.
“Exchange Server 2013 will continue to run after this date, of course. However, due to the risks mentioned above, we strongly recommend that you migrate from Exchange Server 2013 as soon as possible,” said Scott Schnoll, Product Marketing Manager for Microsoft Exchange.
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Customers who want to keep their server software up to date with bug fixes and security updates for newly discovered flaws are encouraged to upgrade their on-premises servers to Exchange Server 2019
Before deploying new installations of Exchange Server 2019, you should ensure that your network, hardware, software, and clients meet the requirements.
Microsoft also recommends migrating to the Exchange Online hosted email and calendar client, available as a standalone service or through an Office 365.
“If you are migrating to Exchange Online, you may be eligible to use the Microsoft FastTrack service,” Schnoll added.
“FastTrack provides best practices, tools , and resources to make your migration to Exchange Online as seamless as possible. Best of all, you'll have a support engineer to guide you from planning to migrating your last mailbox.“
See also: Microsoft: Exchange servers compromised for BlackCat ransomware deployment
The Microsoft 365 migration options and methods you should use are available on the Microsoft documentation website.
The company is also providing guidance for global administrators if they decide to take the migration path to Exchange Online.
