How does hotpatching work?

Hotpatching is a new way to install updates in Windows Server 2025 that does not require a reboot after installation, by patching in-memory code of running processes without the need to restart the process, the application, or operating system.

Some of the benefits of hotpatching include the following:

• Greater uptime with fewer reboots, instead of rebooting monthly (12 times a year) rebooting is reduced to quarterly (4 times a year).
• Faster deployment of updates as the packages are smaller, install faster, and have easier patch orchestration with Azure Update Manager (optional).
• Hotpatch packages install without the need to schedule a reboot, so they can happen sooner. This decreases the “window of vulnerability” which can result if an administrator might normally delay an update and restart after a Windows security update is released.

Azure Arc-enabled Hotpatching for Windows Server 2025 is available for a subscription of $1.50 USD per CPU core per month. 

With hotpatching, you will still need to restart your Windows Servers about four times yearly for baseline updates, but hotpatching can save significant time and ease the inconvenience of a traditional “patch Tuesday.” 

Hotpatching for Windows Server Datacenter: Azure Edition has been available for years. In fact, our own Xbox team has used it to reduce processes that used to take the team weeks down to just a couple of days. With Windows Server 2025, we have been able to deliver these efficiencies to on-premises and non-Azure servers through connection with Azure Arc.

What are the requirements?

To use hotpatching outside of Azure such as, on-premises or in multicloud environments, you must be using Windows Server 2025 Standard or Datacenter, and your server must be connected to Azure Arc. You will also need to subscribe to the Hotpatch service.

Important reminder: If you are currently using Windows Server 2025 and opted in to try the hotpatching service through Azure Arc in preview, you will need to disenroll if you wish to end your preview and not subscribe to the service. Otherwise, your subscription starts automatically in July 2025.

If you’re running on Azure IaaS, or Azure Local you can still use hotpatching as part of functionality of Windows Server Datacenter: Azure Edition. This feature is included both with Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition and Windows Server 2025 Datacenter: Azure Edition. There are no new requirements in this case, i.e. you don’t need to Arc-enable those machines, and there’s no additional cost for it. 

How do I enable hotpatching?

First, if your server is not yet connected to Azure Arc, you can do so by following these steps. Azure Arc is available at no extra cost and lets you manage physical servers, and virtual machines hosted outside of Azure, on your corporate network, or other cloud providers. In addition to hotpatching, there are several paid Azure services you can access through Azure Arc, including Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Azure Monitor, and many others. For full details, refer to this documentation.

Once you are connected with Azure Arc, you will sign into the Azure Portal, go to Azure Update Manager, select your Azure Arc-enabled server, and select the hotpatching option as outlined in this documentation.

You can also manage your subscription to hotpatching through the Azure Portal as well.

What is the difference between hotpatches and traditional patches/LCUs? 

At Microsoft we have traditionally shipped patches known as Latest Cumulative Updates (LCU). An LCU can have a few different types of fixes in its payload such as: 

1. Security fixes 
2. Bug fixes that are not security fixes 
3. New feature payload 

In contrast, a hotpatch only includes security fixes which makes the patch smaller and scoped to security only. We still need to deliver on #2 and #3 above, so we synchronize these payloads once a quarter in the Hotpatching schedule. 

What is the hotpatching schedule?

The hotpatch service provides up to eight hotpatches in a year. It follows a three-month cycle with the first month as a baseline month (monthly cumulative update) followed by two months of hotpatches. During baseline months the machines will need a reboot. The four planned baseline months are January, April, July and October.

On rare occasions, for security reasons we may have to ship a non-hotpatch update during a hotpatch month which will also need a reboot. But the goal will be to provide up to eight hotpatches in a year. 

The Windows Server hotpatching subscription is billed monthly, so your cost will be consistent throughout the year in both hotpatch and non-hotpatch months. 

Where to learn more about Windows Server

In addition to the documentation above, please check out our blog posts on Tech Community and watch the on-demand videos from the 2025 Windows Server Summit virtual event. We encourage you to try this time-saving feature and start discovering all the time you’ll save! 

And don’t forget…

As you may have heard at Ignite, hotpatching is also available for Windows 11 Enterprise. Learn more about eligibility and hotpatching for Windows clients here.

*Prices are in US dollars and are subject to change

The post Tired of all the restarts? Get hotpatching for Windows Server appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

Last November, our most innovative, secure, and performant release to date was made generally available: Windows Server 2025. Incorporating input and feedback from customers, our Windows Server engineering team delivered a release that can enable customers to safeguard their data and infrastructure, handle their most demanding workloads, and help enhance their operational flexibility and connectivity, all with advanced security, cloud agility, and improved performance. As we continue to build and innovate, our team looks forward to engaging and learning from you at every opportunity to help ensure Windows Server continues to enable customers to accelerate innovation in their businesses.

As we reflect on over 30 years of innovation and our most recent release, we are thrilled to invite you to the Windows Server Summit 2025, held on April 29th and 30th on Microsoft Tech Community. This is a premier event for Windows Server professionals eager to stay involved and ahead of the curve. This year’s summit features a lineup of sessions designed to provide deep insight into the latest innovations and best practices in Microsoft Windows Server and Azure.

How to sign up

This event does not require registration, but you should be a member of Microsoft Tech Community to join us live and ask questions via chat during the sessions. We have tons of great content spanning two days, April 29—30th, each day starting at 7 AM PST. Visit this page for details on how to join and add the event to your calendar

Microsoft Tech Community

Meet the experts

You will have the opportunity to meet Windows Server engineering leaders, including Ian LeGrow, CVP PM. Ian leads the Operating Systems Division product management team, responsible for Windows Server and all Windows-based OS at Microsoft. Throughout the event, product managers will share how they have taken your feedback to deliver improved features and one of our most innovative and secure releases of Windows Server yet. They will also provide an exclusive look behind the scenes at what’s coming next in Windows Server, Azure, and hybrid cloud innovations.

Session highlights

After the keynote, you can listen or watch all the way through or pick and choose from mostly 30-minute sessions according to your interests. Here is a small sample of the sessions we have planned:

• Upgrades made easy with Windows Server 2025: Discover why Windows Server 2025 is the easiest version to upgrade ever. Join Rob Hindman and Jeff Woolsey as they delve into media upgrades and feature updates.
• Securing Active Directory: Join Active Directory Program Manager Cliff Fisher for a deep dive into new security features, policies, and defaults for Windows Server 2025. Learn about the new Windows Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) features, Delegated Managed Service Accounts, and more.
• Windows Server Hyper-V Architecture, features, GPUs, and more! Explore the new GPU partitioning innovation in Windows Server 2025 Hyper-V. This session will cover use cases and hardware considerations.
• Modernize server management and connectivity with Azure Arc: Connect Windows Servers across hybrid, multicloud, and edge environments to Azure. This session will showcase connectivity options and highlight Azure capabilities focused on SCCM modernization.
• What’s next for advanced storage: Discover the major improvements to storage in Windows Server 2025 and get a sneak peek at innovations like Native NVMe (nonvolatile memory express) and rack-aware clustering.
• Fine-tuned host networking for Windows Server 2025: Transform your network setup and management for Windows Server 2025 clusters with Network ATC and Network HUD. Learn how to achieve peak network performance for your workloads with AccelNet.
• SDN magic—Windows Server 2025 innovations: Uncover the power of software-defined networking on Windows Server 2025, including effortless deployments with native SDN (Software-defined networking) and enhanced security posture for your applications.
• Harden security and build resiliency with Windows Server 2025: Stay up-to-date with the latest security features and best practices for securing Windows Server. Learn about Microsoft Defender for Cloud and more.
• Hotpatching and update management for Windows Server with Azure Arc: Learn about the popular new hotpatching feature in Windows Server 2025 and watch demos on managing updates with Azure Arc.
• The Support Case Files—Windows Server troubleshooting tips: Join our Windows Server support engineers as they break down your most requested support cases.
• From on-premises to cloud with Azure File Sync: Learn how to use Azure File Sync to employ hybrid topologies and migrate seamlessly from on-premises to cloud.

Don’t miss out!

Windows Server Summit is a special virtual event with a community-driven, educational focus, and Microsoft engineers as featured speakers. While most of the sessions are advanced and assume good Windows Server experience, you will get something out of this event, whether you are a seasoned IT professional or just starting your journey. We hope you will join us live so you can participate in the Q&A, but if you cannot, sessions will be available on demand a few days after the event. Sign up now and join us for two days of learning together.

Microsoft Windows Server

Protect, adapt, and innovate with Windows Server

Try today

The post Join us at Windows Server Summit 2025 and learn more about our latest innovations! appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

Windows Server 2025

Investing in your success with Windows Server

Try today

Advanced multilayered security 

In an era where cybersecurity is of utmost importance (see the Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2024 and the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Healthcare Ransomware Report), Windows Server 2025 stands out with a suite of security features designed to safeguard your data and infrastructure. Here are a few key capabilities: 

• Active Directory (AD): The gold standard for identity and authentication only gets better with new security capabilities to help fortify your environment against evolving threats with greater scalability and improvements in protocols, encryption, hardening, and new cryptographic support. 

• File services/server message block (SMB) hardening: Windows Server 2025 includes SMB over QUIC to enable secure access to file shares over the internet. SMB security also adds hardened firewall defaults, brute force attack prevention, and protections for man in the middle attacks, relay attacks, and spoofing attacks. 

• Delegate Managed Service Accounts (dMSA): Unlike traditional service accounts, dMSAs don’t require manual password management since AD automatically takes care of it. With dMSAs, specific permissions can be delegated to access resources in the domain, which reduces security risks and provides better visibility and logs of service account activity. 

These advanced security features make Windows Server 2025 a robust and secure platform for your IT infrastructure that you should begin evaluating immediately.

Cloud agility anywhere

Windows Server 2025 introduces several advanced hybrid cloud capabilities designed to enhance operational flexibility and connectivity across various environments. Key features include: 

• Hotpatching enabled by Azure Arc: Customers operating fully in the cloud have inherent modern security advantages like automatic software updates and back-up and recovery.  Now we’re bringing some of those capabilities to Windows Server 2025 for on-premises customers with a new hotpatching subscription service, enabled by Azure Arc. With hotpatching, customers will experience fewer reboots and minimal disruption to operations. Hotpatching delivers security updates for Azure Arc-enabled Windows Server 2025 Standard or Datacenter running on physical machines, virtual machines, on-premises, or multicloud servers. Hotpatching, currently in preview, will require a monthly subscription. The hotpatching feature remains no additional cost for Windows Server Datacenter Azure Edition virtual machines.

• Easy Azure Arc onboarding: Windows Server 2025 brings Azure’s powerful capabilities directly into your datacenter through Azure Arc. This integration simplifies the onboarding process to Azure’s hybrid features and enhances operational flexibility, allowing you to manage and secure your hybrid and multicloud environments more effectively. 

• Software-defined network (SDN) multisite features: The software-defined network (SDN) multisite features offer native L2 and L3 connectivity for seamless workload migration across various locations, coupled with unified network policy management. 

• Unified network policy management: This capability allows for centralized management of network policies, making it easier to maintain consistent security and performance standards across your hybrid cloud environment.

These hybrid cloud capabilities make Windows Server 2025 an ideal choice for organizations looking to optimize their IT infrastructure and leverage the benefits of both on-premises and cloud environments.

AI, performance, and scale 

Windows Server 2025 is designed to handle the most demanding workloads, including AI and machine learning. Here are some key capabilities: 

• Hyper-V, AI, and machine learning: With built-in support for GPU partitioning and the ability to process large data sets across distributed environments, Windows Server 2025 offers a high-performance platform for both traditional applications and advanced AI workloads with live migration and high availability. 

• NVMe storage performance: Windows Server 2025 delivers up to 60% more storage IOPs performance compared to Windows Server 2022 on identical systems. (Based on 4K randread using Diskpsd 2.2 with Kioxia CM7 SSd) 

• Storage Spaces Direct and storage flexibility: Windows Server supports a wide range of storage solutions such as local, NAS, and SAN for decades and continues to this day. Windows Server 2025 delivers more storage innovation with Native ReFS deduplication and compression, thinly provisioned Storage Spaces, and Storage Replica Compression now available in all editions of Windows Server 2025.

• Hyper-V performance and scale: Windows Server 2025 introduces massive performance and scalability improvements that come from Azure. Windows Server 2025 Hyper-V virtual machine maximums: 
  • Maximum memory per VM: 240 Terabytes* — (10x previous) 
  • Maximum virtual processors per VM: 2048 VPs* — (~8.5x previous) 

*Requires Generation 2 VMs

Windows Server 2025 delivers major advancements across the board for Hyper-V, GPU integration, Storage Spaces Direct (software defined storage), software-defined networking, and clustering. These improvements make Windows Server 2025 an excellent option for organizations looking for a virtualization solution and for organizations looking to leverage AI and machine learning while maintaining high performance and scalability.

System Center 2025 is available now

By delivering System Center 2025 concurrently with Windows Server 2025, management of Windows Server at scale is available immediately. This allows organizations to make the most of new Windows Server features. Designed to enhance agility, performance, and security, this release is set to enhance how organizations optimize their infrastructure and virtualized software-defined datacenters. We encourage you to visit the System Center 2025 post learn more. 

Microsoft Ignite 2024

We look forward to meeting you in person and sharing these and other Windows Server 2025 features in our sessions and at our booth at Microsoft Ignite in Chicago, November 19-21. For those of you who can’t make it, many sessions, including our Windows Server breakout titled Windows Server 2025: New Ways to gain cloud agility and security, will be available for online viewing. 

We are also excited to bring new features to customers on existing Windows Server versions like 2016, 2019, 2022, as well as 2025. Windows Server Software Assurance or active subscription customers can access Azure management tools like Azure Update Manager, Azure Policy Guest Configuration, Disaster Recovery, Change Tracking and Inventory, and more, with access to many features coming at no additional cost**. Tune into Microsoft Ignite where we will show more demos and information on how to access these new offerings.

Additional Windows Server resources

• Try Windows Server 2025 today
• Windows Server documentation
• Learn more about what’s new in Windows Server 2025
• Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate 
• Administer Active Directory Domain Services

Notes

1. ** Note: compute and storage may incur additional fees. 

The post Windows Server 2025 now generally available, with advanced security, improved performance, and cloud agility  appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

Windows Server 2025

Download the public preview to try these exciting new features.

Start here

Advanced security

With a growing number of cyber security threats and the impact of incidents escalating quickly, security is a top priority for our customers. Windows Server 2025 includes a rich set of security innovations, including:

• Modern, scalable identity management with new security capabilities in Active Directory.
• Server Message Block (SMB) improvements including SMB over QUIC and features to help protect against brute force attacks, spoofing, and relay attacks.
• Security updates with fewer reboots, made possible through Azure Arc-enabled hotpatching, new security capabilities in Active Directory, and SMB hardening.

Hybrid innovation

We’re continuing to hear from our customers that the majority of their organizations work in a hybrid or multicloud state. In fact, a recent survey we conducted revealed that 81% of current hybrid cloud customers expect to remain hybrid for another five years.² Now, you can innovate and govern anywhere, as Windows Server 2025 delivers improved hybrid cloud capabilities such as:

• Software-defined network (SDN) multisite features allow for native L2 and L3 connectivity for workloads in multiple locations, and the ease of unified network policy management.
• Flexible hybrid and multicloud management tools that bring Azure capabilities to your datacenter through Azure Arc.
• If you want to use Azure hybrid capabilities but haven’t started yet, Windows Server 2025 has features that allow easier onboarding to Azure Arc.

AI, performance, and scale

Are you curious about how your organization can do more with AI? Well, you’ve come to the right place! Azure hosts some of the world’s largest workloads that push the limits of CPU and memory capabilities to process huge data sets across distributed environments. With the growth of AI and machine learning, GPUs have become a key part of cloud solutions because they’re great at performing many parallel operations on large data. Windows Server 2025 brings you many of these advantages across GPUs, storage, networking, and scalability. New features include:

• GPU partitioning across virtual machines with live migration and failover clustering; built to support AI workloads and inferencing at the edge.
• Reductions in the time you spend on network setup and issue remediation with new Network Adaptive Traffic Control (ATC) and Network Health and Usage Dashboard (HUD) features.
• Massive increases in storage performance and vastly improved Hyper-V performance and scalability.³
• Easy upgrades through Windows Update.

What we’ve provided above is just a quick overview of our top improvement areas for Windows Server 2025. For more details, we encourage you to read more on Microsoft Learn and watch our 2024 Windows Server Summit on demand.

Windows Server customers on the leading edge

While Windows Server 2025 is only coming into its public preview now, we’d like to share just a few inspiring customer stories you might have missed, to help you plot the journey ahead:

• CTT – Correios de Portugal: Learn how an organization that’s been around since 1520 gets ready for AI.

• Hokkoku Bank: This bank laid the initial groundwork for modernization by moving its entire on-premises estate to Windows Server. This created a seamless path to full cloud transformation on Microsoft Azure.

• DICK’s Sporting Goods: This Windows Server customer created an omnichannel athlete experience using Azure Arc and Azure Kubernetes Service.

System Center 2025

We’re also excited to announce the launch of System Center 2025, a leap forward in infrastructure management, enabling you to make the most of the Windows Server 2025 features from “day 0”. Advanced security focus continues to be a theme for System Center 2025 as well, featuring Azure Key Vault integration and reduced NTLM and Credential Security Support Provider protocol (CredSSP) usage. For hybrid innovation, onboarding machines in your System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) managed datacenters to Azure Arc is simplified with Azure Arc-enabled SCVMM. In addition to at-scale Arc onboarding, it also enables you to manage the lifecycle of the machines in your datacenter in a self-service fashion from Azure. 

Try out the new Windows Server 2025 preview

Today we’ve shared some of the new features and capabilities of Windows Server 2025. They’re the outcome of more than 30 years of working on, refining, and updating the Windows Server platform based on input from dedicated professionals like you. Thank you for being a valuable Windows Server customer and, through your passion and feedback, helping us shape this new release. For more details, read this Windows Server documentation, watch our Windows Server Summit sessions, or check out the “What’s ahead for Windows 2025” video.

Download the Windows Server 2025 preview.

¹This information relates to a prerelease product that may be substantially modified before it’s released. Microsoft makes no warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to the information provided here.

²Based on a 2023 Microsoft survey of Windows Server customers using hybrid cloud in their organization. N=197.

³Up to 70% more IOPs on NVMe SSDs; Windows Server 2025 Hyper-V Virtual Machine Maximums: Maximum Memory per VM: 240 Terabytes* (10x previous) ; Maximum Virtual Processors per VM: 2048 VPs* (~8.5x previous) *Requires Generation 2 VMs ; Windows Server 2025 Host Memory Maximums: 4 Petabytes for hosts that support 5 level paging (166x previous) ; 256 Terabytes for hosts that support 4 level paging (10x previous) 

The post Gain enhanced security and performance with Windows Server 2025—now in preview appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

However, as many organizations like yours are eager to innovate with AI for various use cases, it is also very important, if not more, to have a solid IT foundation that can support that ambitious AI vision—from a cost, performance, and security perspective. The last thing companies want is to make a big investment in AI and machine learning initiatives too soon, without the bandwidth, guardrails, or necessary performance in place to support it.

At the heart of your IT estate lies strategic investments you have in business-critical workloads like Windows Server and SQL Server that are and have been the foundation of many organizations for more than 30 years now. The question then becomes—how do you modernize these foundational technologies to make you ready to leverage the full power of AI, that will allow you to adopt AI in a secure, responsible way and gain an edge over the competition?

Catch up on sessions from Microsoft Ignite

Whether you missed some of the sessions at Ignite or just want a recap of all things Windows Server and SQL Server, we’ve got you covered. In this blog, we’re going to showcase the main Ignite sessions for Windows Server and SQL Server, where we had various announcements, demos, and customer testimonials.

Windows Server

What’s New in Windows Server v.Next: In this session, we provide a preview of what’s coming next for Windows Server, a platform that enables IT professionals and developers to modernize their applications and enable hybrid use cases. The topics covered were Active Directory, File Server, Storage, Hyper-V, Security, and more.

Do more with Windows Server and SQL Server on Azure: This session highlights how you can reap more technical and business benefits by running Windows Server and SQL Server on Microsoft Azure. You’ll learn how Azure provides optimal cost benefits, performance, and security for these workloads. Get tips and demos on how to extend Azure innovations to your hybrid and multi-cloud environments with Azure Arc.

Migrate to Innovate: Be AI-ready, secure, and optimize operations: This is an immersive session for IT practitioners on how to migrate to Azure. We highlighted practical steps, demos, and guidance on how migrating to Azure can accelerate the impact of AI in your organization. We then highlighted how you can enhance security and optimize operations once in the cloud and take the first step into Azure with Azure Migrate.

Learn Live: Upgrade and migrate Windows Server IaaS virtual machines: In this online session, you can learn to migrate a workload running in Windows Server to an infrastructure as a service (IaaS) virtual machine and to Windows Server 2022 by using Windows Server migration tools or the Storage Migration Service.

SQL Server

Get superior price and performance with Azure cloud-scale databases: In this session, you can learn how to improve performance with the latest capabilities for Azure SQL Databases, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, and SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc for hybrid and multi-cloud. You’ll learn how customers enabled ongoing innovation by migrating to Azure Database for MySQL. This session will cover tactical ways to get the most from your applications with the databases that are easy to use, deliver unmatched price and performance, support open-source, and enable transformative AI technologies.

Accelerate your SQL migration with Azure Data Migration Service: In this demo, you’ll see how the new Azure Data Migration Service along with Azure Migrate can accelerate your SQL modernization journey. We will showcase Azure Data Migration Service streamlined capabilities for readiness assessment, SKU recommendations based on workload rightsizing, and online and offline data migration across Portal, Azure Data Studio, PowerShell, and command-line interface (CLI) experiences that you need for your SQL Server migration journey to Azure from on-premises.

Migrate to innovate: Modernize your data on Azure SQL Managed Instance: In this session, you can watch new performance enhancements in action and experience the ease of online migration to Azure SQL Managed Instance using the link feature. See how you can continue to modernize on Azure through Microsoft Fabric integration and connections to other Azure services.

Bring enhanced manageability to SQL Server anywhere with Azure Arc: Join this discussion to discover how connecting your SQL Servers to Azure can enhance your management, security, and governance capabilities with live demos. SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc is a hybrid cloud solution that allows you to manage, secure, and govern your SQL Server estate running anywhere from Azure. Our experts will also explore different options for deploying Azure Arc to your SQL Servers at scale.

Next steps to modernize Windows Server and SQL Server

Ready to take the next step in modernizing your Windows Server and SQL Server? Here are some quick resources to get started:

1. Upgrade to the latest versions of Windows Server to take advantage of the latest capabilities. Learn more about Windows Server 2022 and SQL Server 2022.
2. Looking to migrate to Azure? Take the first step with Azure Migrate and Modernize, our offering that has programs, offers, support, free tooling, and expert guidance to confidently migrate to Azure.
3. Join the discussion on our Windows Server Tech Community and SQL Server Tech Community.

¹ ITProToday, Microsoft Ignite 2023 Envisions AI as an Everyday Reality, November 16, 2023.

The post Windows Server and SQL Server at Microsoft Ignite 2023 appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

Options to stay protected for Windows Server 2012/R2 end of support 

As new features and functionality light up the latest versions of our server offerings such as Windows Server 2022 and SQL Server 2022, we want to remind organizations that support for Windows Server 2012/R2 is coming to an end on October 10, 2023. After the end of support date, Windows Server 2012/R2 workloads will be vulnerable as they will no longer receive regular security updates. Organizations can remain protected by:

1. Modernizing to a PaaS platform such as Azure SQL Managed Instance or Azure App Service to always stay up-to-date, or upgrading to the latest version in Azure. With a PaaS platform, customers can fully offload management tasks in the cloud, so teams can focus on delivering innovative apps and experiences for their businesses.   
2. Migrating to Azure  for free Extended Security Updates. This includes options such as Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Dedicated Host, Azure VMware Solution, and Azure Stack HCI. Combining this with Azure Hybrid Benefit and consumption models such as reserved instances or savings plan for compute allows even more savings in Azure for Windows Server and SQL Server.  
3. Purchasing Extended Security Updates to remain protected on premises and in multi cloud environments.

We know that organizations often heavily weigh the best path to modernization, with many factors to consider. In this post, we’ll explore two new options from Azure Migrate and Azure Arc to protect end of support workloads.

Migrate and upgrade Windows Server 2012/R2 with Azure Migrate

If an organization is considering modernizing and migrating to Azure, the first step should be to assess their environment and build a migration business case with Azure Migrate. This free tool provides technical insights into workloads and cost estimates for moving to Azure. 

We’re excited to announce that Azure Migrate now supports in-place upgrades of Windows Server 2012 and later versions, during the move to Azure. Organizations can now elect to move their legacy applications and databases to a fully supported, compatible, and compliant operating system such as Windows Server 2016, 2019, or 2022. Organizations can also avoid downtime by first upgrading to a test environment in Azure and running production workloads in parallel to confirm functionality and compatibility, before fully moving to Azure.

With this new feature, organizations can avoid Windows Server 2012/R2 end of support and accomplish their modernization and migration goals in one motion. Learn more about this feature in Azure Migrate here.  

Stay protected in on-premises and multicloud environments with Extended Security Updates enabled by Azure Arc 

For organizations who aren’t able to modernize or migrate prior to the Windows Server 2012/R2 end of support date this October, Microsoft is announcing Extended Security Updates enabled by Azure Arc. With Azure Arc, organizations will be able to purchase and seamlessly deploy Extended Security Updates in on-premises or multicloud environments, right from the Azure portal. Extended Security Updates enabled by Azure Arc also gives more flexibility with a pay-as-you-go subscription model. 

Here are the key benefits: 

• Flexible billing and savings: Activate and enroll from Azure to pay for security updates on a monthly basis, giving organizations more flexibility to migrate and modernize to Azure on their terms.  

• Centralized cost management: Analyze costs using Azure Cost Management and see all Azure consumption in one place.  

• Greater visibility: Surface enrollment status of Extended Security Updates to highlight gaps and status changes  

• Organize and inventory your assets: Gain visibility and reporting across servers spanning your hybrid, multicloud, and edge infrastructure. 

• Keyless delivery: The enrollment of Extended Security Updates on Azure Arc-enabled machines does not require the acquisition or activation of keys. 

• Security and compliance: Seamlessly extend Azure security and governance from cloud to edge and stay compliant with supported software. 

To get started today, connect your servers to Azure Arc for free by installing Azure Arc using familiar deployment tools like Configuration Manager, Group Policy, Windows Admin Center, or MSI. In September 2023, Extended Security Updates enabled by Azure Arc will be available natively in Azure to point and click to activate your Extended Security Updates. This capability will also be available for SQL Server 2012.

Start modernizing for end of support

With all the new options available, there’s no better time to start modernizing for end of support with Azure. Here are a few key resources to get started: 

• Learn more about your options for Windows Server and SQL Server end of support. 
• Learn more about Extended Security Updates on our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page and the documentation.
• Protect beyond Extended Security Updates by enhancing security with Microsoft Defender for Cloud – a comprehensive and unified cloud-native security solution to protect hybrid and multicloud environments from code to cloud.   
• Learn more about running Windows Server on Azure.
• Get in-depth resources for every stage of your cloud journey with Azure Migrate and Modernize & Azure Innovate—our new offerings from Azure that provide end-to-end support from migration and modernization to infusing the latest innovation in analytics and AI. 

The post New options for Windows Server 2012/R2 end of support from Azure appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

Today, we are announcing new updates to Azure Automanage machine best practices and Azure Automanage for Windows Server that allow IT admins and DevOps professionals to simplify and optimize IT management with automated operations.

Azure Automanage machine best practices

Azure Automanage machine best practices is a unique capability on Azure that allows you to optimize IT management with automated operations. It simplifies the steps to discover, onboard, and configure certain services in Azure that would benefit your virtual machines.

• Custom configuration profiles: Custom configuration profiles in both Windows Server and Linux virtual machines is now available in preview. This new capability allows you to select the Azure services, including Azure Backup, Azure Security Center, and Azure Monitor to name a few—that fit your unique needs.
• Support for Azure Arc-enabled servers: The integration with Azure Arc allows you to automate frequent, time-consuming management tasks for Azure and on-premises workloads by applying the Automanage service to your on-premises Windows Server and Linux virtual machines. With Azure Arc, you can see your Azure and non-Azure servers side-by-side in the Azure portal with Azure Arc—now available in preview.

Azure Automanage for Windows Server

Along with helping automate tasks, Automanage for Windows Server can also enable differentiated innovation for your virtual machines on Azure.

• Hotpatch: With many organizations moving to a zero-trust security model, you can now deploy security updates without having to reboot your Windows Server virtual machine. Hotpatching reduces the need to schedule security updates because you can deploy updates as soon as they become available.
• Securely access file servers: Another challenge has been securely accessing file servers remotely over an untrusted network and without a VPN when you’re on a mobile device or working remotely. Now, generally available—SMB over QUIC. SMB over QUIC introduces an alternative to the TCP network transport, providing secure, reliable connectivity to edge file servers over untrusted networks like the internet.
• Preserve on-premises IP addresses: Lastly, when you migrate to Azure, there are some virtual machines that cannot change their IP address. Now generally available is an extended network for Azure, which allows you to migrate Windows Server workloads to Azure while preserving the original IP address.

For customers who have moved Windows Server to Azure, you can take advantage of Azure Hybrid Benefit and free Extended Security Updates only on Azure. To get started with planning Windows Server 2012 and 2012 end of support, please read our end-of-support blog for additional guidance, you can also refer to our Extended Security Updates frequently asked questions.

Follow along at Microsoft Ignite

Watch our sessions on Azure Automanage and Windows Admin Center:

• Microsoft Into Focus: Infrastructure
• Simplify IT server management through Azure Automanage
• What’s new in Windows Admin Center

Get started with Azure Automanage and Windows Server 2022

Azure Automanage has some new capabilities:

• Read our deep-dive about these features on the Tech Community blog.
• Get started with Automanage best practices.
• Learn more about Azure Automanage for Windows Server.

Windows Server 2022 includes a broad set of capabilities—here are top ways to get started:

• Windows Server Evaluation Center offers options to try Windows Server in Azure or to download.
• Windows Server on Azure Marketplace for running Virtual Machines on Azure.
• Learn about the latest capabilities in Windows Admin Center.

The post 5 new capabilities to automate Windows Server management with Azure Automanage appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

Take advantage of this opportunity to get your questions answered during live Q&A by engaging with product managers that represent Windows Server and all these Azure services.

A closer look at session details

Session and speaker	Description
Windows Server Summit Kickoff Bernardo Caldas Vice President of Program Management, Azure Core OS, and Edge Infrastructure	Tune in for a kickoff with Bernardo Caldas (Vice President of Program Management, Azure Core OS, and Edge Infrastructure) and Arpan Shah (General Manager, Azure) who will talk about the latest innovation for Windows Server and share some exciting announcements.
What’s new with Windows Server 2022 Jeff Woolsey Principal Program Manager, Windows Server	Join Jeff Woolsey and deep dive into the latest capabilities of what makes Windows Server 2022 an exciting platform for IT pros and developers. Learn how you can apply these capabilities to your applications and data in the cloud, on-premises, and at the edge.
Windows Server 2022 and Hybrid Cloud with Azure Arc Ryan Willis Senior Program Manager, Azure Arc	Azure is the world’s computer. It’s built with enterprise-scale in mind and all the services you need to manage updates, collect and analyze logs, audit and enforce policy, and secure your servers. For workloads not moving to Azure, learn how to bring Azure innovation to your on-premises and multicloud servers with Azure Arc.
Windows Server 2022 and Hybrid Cloud with Azure Stack HCI Cosmos Darwin Principal PM Manager	Azure Stack HCI is a new hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) operating system delivered as an Azure service that provides the latest security, performance, and feature updates. Learn how to deploy and run Windows Server 2022 on Azure Stack HCI to modernize your datacenter while using your existing tools, processes, and skillsets.
Simplify IT management with Azure innovation for Windows Server 2022 Meagan McCrory Senior Program Manager	Azure Automanage can help you save time and resources for your Windows Server workloads. Discover how different services can help manage servers and see how Azure Automanage helps you easily discover and utilize premier Windows Server 2022 capabilities.
Increase developer velocity with Windows containers and Kubernetes Olaseni Adeniji Program Manager	Companies are rapidly modernizing their applications with containers and microservices. Learn about tools and platform capabilities that can help modernize your traditional Windows Server applications and implement a differentiated container solution for your Windows host.
Modernize server management with System Center and Windows Admin Center Srividya Varanasi Senior Program Manager Prasidh Arora Program Manager, Windows Server	Microsoft is evolving server management with System Center and Windows Admin Center. Learn how you can use System Center to manage datacenters at scale and how you can use Windows Admin Center to perform granular and optimized server management. We will share new and future capabilities that enable you to achieve a singular management plane across your on-premises estate.

We look forward to having you join us at the Windows Server Summit on September 16, 2021!

The post Get a first look at Windows Server 2022—register for the free Windows Server Summit appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

With Windows Server 2022, customers can continue to securely run their workloads, enable new hybrid cloud scenarios, and modernize their applications to meet evolving business requirements. Let’s dive into the new technical capabilities of Windows Server 2022 and how customers can take advantage of these to modernize their server environment.

Why upgrade to Windows Server 2022

Advanced multi-layered security

Security has always been a cornerstone of Windows Server. With security top of mind for our customers, we are introducing numerous security enhancements in Windows Server 2022. In this release, customers can take advantage of multi-layer security with Secured-core server and secured connectivity. Secured-core server means our hardware partners have provided hardware, firmware, and drivers to help customers harden the security of their critical systems. It allows IT and SecOps teams to apply comprehensive security broadly in their environment with Secured-core server’s advanced protection and preventive defense across hardware, firmware, and virtualization layers.

Secured connectivity in Windows Server 2022 adds another layer to security during transport. The new release adds faster and more secure encrypted hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) and industry-standard AES-256 encryption with support for server message block (SMB) protocol.

Hybrid capabilities with Azure

Customers are choosing a hybrid and multicloud approach to digitally transform their businesses. They can now take advantage of cloud services with on-premises Windows Server 2022 by connecting with Azure Arc.

Additionally, in Windows Server 2022 customers can take advantage of the File Server enhancements such as SMB Compression. SMB Compression improves application file transfer by compressing data while in transit over a network. Finally, Windows Admin Center, a tool loved by admins, brings modern server management experience such as with a new event viewer and gateway proxy support for Azure connected scenarios.

Flexible application platform

Customers who upgrade to Windows Server 2022 can take advantage of scalability improvements such as support for 48TB of memory and 2,048 logical cores running on 64 physical sockets for those demanding Tier1 applications. In this release, customers can also take advantage of advancements to Windows containers. For example, Windows Server 2022 improves application compatibility of Windows containers, includes HostProcess containers for node configuration, supports IPv6 and dual-stack, and enables consistent network policy implementation with Calico. Furthermore, we are continuing to work with the Kubernetes community to enable Windows Server 2022 container support and bring the new capabilities to Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and AKS on Azure Stack HCI.

For deeper details on Windows Server 2022 preview features, please refer to the Windows Server preview blog and our tech documentation.

Get more from Windows Server 

In the last year, we have not only introduced Windows Server 2022 but also introduced Azure services and service enhancements for Windows Server. Let’s look at the two common scenarios and capabilities that customers can take advantage of.

On Azure: Azure Automanage (in preview) enables IT pros to not only automate cloud best practices but also put into practice our enterprise expertise with the Microsoft cloud adoption framework. With Azure Automanage for Windows Server, customers can migrate to Azure easily without any changes to network IP, securely do file transfer to Azure using SMB over QUIC, and implement hotpatch for new Windows Server Azure Virtual Machines.

To modernize existing applications, customers have many options in Azure depending on their application architectural needs. For example, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) with native .NET support enables customers to modernize applications with Kubernetes, the container orchestrator of choice for many.

Lastly, when customers move their workloads to Azure, they can take advantage of benefits such as Azure Hybrid Benefit and free Extended Security Updates for Windows Server 2008 and 2012—only on Azure.

Hybrid and on-premises: Many customers need to run applications and services on-premises. Through Azure Arc and Azure Stack HCI, customers can modernize the management and virtualization layers, respectively. Similarly, customers who want to modernize their Windows Server applications on-premises can use AKS on Azure Stack HCI.

While we will continue to introduce new capabilities in Window Server Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC), we will also enable new scenarios in Azure that make it simple for customers to modernize their Windows Server IT environment.

Starting your journey with Windows Server 2022

Windows Server 2022 includes a broad set of capabilities—here are top ways to get started:

• Windows Server Evaluation Center offers options to try Windows Server in Azure or to download.
• Windows Server on Azure Marketplace for running Virtual Machines on Azure.
• Volume Licensing Service Center, where Volume License customers can download Windows Server 2022.
• Refer to the pricing page for Windows Server 2022 editions and pricing details.

Windows Server Summit is here

We’ll dive into Windows Server 2022 and more during the Windows Server Summit on September 16, 2021. Join us at this complimentary digital event.

The post Windows Server 2022 now generally available—delivers innovation in security, hybrid, and containers appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

As we introduce many innovations for Windows Server, support for older versions along with security updates released while the version is supported will come to an end. Windows Server 2012, and 2012 R2 End of Extended support is approaching per the Lifecycle Policy: Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 Extended Support will end on October 10, 2023.

Customers are upgrading to the latest release of Windows Server and applying the latest innovation to modernize their IT environment. However, we understand that Windows Server run many business-critical applications and it may take more time for customers to modernize. We are glad to share that we have great options and benefits for our customers to protect their workloads while they transform with Azure and the latest release of Windows Server.

Today, we are announcing Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 Extended Security Updates.

Customers can migrate their workloads to Azure and get free Extended Security Updates for three more years, only in Azure. Customers running these releases of Windows Server on-premises will have the option to purchase Extended Security Updates.

Furthermore, we are also announcing, one additional year of extended security update for Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 only on Azure.

To get started with planning Windows Server 2012 and 2012 end of support, please read our end-of-support blog for additional guidance, refer to Extended Security Updates Frequently Asked Questions, and learn about the latest in Azure Migration and Modernization Program.

The post Plan your Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 End of Support appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.