Now, if you’re reading this today, you probably still have some workloads that won’t upgrade before the deadline. The good news is that we have options to keep you protected and putting you on a path to modernize your infrastructure and apps.

Let’s look at these options.

Extended Security Updates keys are available from Azure portal

For apps and services that need to run on-premises on Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2, Extended Security Updates can be purchased under eligible programs. Please visit our site for the most up to date information including our frequently asked questions.

We recently published this Tech Community blog on the steps to purchase, install, and activate Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 extended security updates keys. If you’re unsure whether your servers are ready to receive extended security updates and like to test, refer to KB4528069 for Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, and KB4528081 for Windows Server 2008 SP2.

Additionally today, we are sharing that you can now join a preview of extended security updates (in the Azure portal), which will allow you to obtain eligible unlock keys from the Azure portal. To get started, go to extended security updates for Windows Server in the Azure portal. Please visit tech docs for detailed documentation. 

Migrate to Azure and upgrade when you are ready

Azure offers one of the most effective ways that gives you more time to modernize. Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 Virtual Machines (VMs) on Azure get 3 years of free Extended Security Updates, giving you the opportunity to invest more time towards modernizing your app stack while staying secured.

With the Azure hybrid benefit you can save 40 percent off the total cost of a virtual machine. Combining the Azure Hybrid Benefit with Azure Reserved Virtual Machine Instances, you can realize up to 80 percent savings on the total cost of a VM. Azure hybrid benefit works for both Azure Virtual Machines and Azure Dedicated Host.

To get started and assess your app dependencies such as on domain controllers use Azure Migrate. It is a free and agentless tool to discover on-premises servers, assess dependencies, and migrate apps to Azure.

It’s critical to choose the right path for the right Server Role. We’ve laid out the options for you here, and for more detailed reading, check out the Windows Server migration guide.

Secondly, evaluate your migration options based on your business requirements. Azure offers several lift and shift options. Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 apps can be migrated to any of the following options and then, upgrade to Windows Server 2019 or Windows Server 2016.

• Migrate to Azure Virtual Machines
• Run Windows Server hosted on VMware natively in Azure using Azure VMWare Solutions
• For those of you who require dedicated compute due to compliance requirements, take advantage of Azure Dedicated Host

Now, most of our customers are running lift-and-shift Windows Server 2008/R2 migrations and app modernization efforts in parallel. Apps and services that lend themselves to quick modernization can take advantage of services such as App Service and Azure Kubernetes Service, which supports Windows Server containers. Please note Windows containers are available in versions Windows Server 2016 onwards. App Service works great for web apps written in .NET Framework and .NET Core as well as other frameworks such as Node.js, Java, PHP, Ruby, and Python. For modernizing with containers, Azure Kubernetes Service can help to easily deploy and manage those apps.

And finally, to help you with this transition to the cloud, we launched the Azure Migration Program, which offers step-by-step guidance for migration. This program was created in collaboration with well-known and trusted partners and service providers, each of whom has a deep understanding of Windows Server.

Now, let’s look at the scenario where you need to run Windows Server apps and services on-premises.

Upgrade on-premises

Over the past year, we launched the most innovative version of Windows Server yet, with Windows Server 2019. For workloads that you know will stay on-premises Windows Server 2019 offers the latest advances in security such as Advanced Thread Protection to detect attacks and zero-day exploits and Defender Exploit Guard to help combat ransomware attacks. Windows Server 2019 with several built-in hybrid features such as Storage Migration Service and Azure Network Adapter. This ensures that your apps, services, and data are all secured and ready for a move to Azure whenever you’re ready.

For modern apps, Windows Server 2019 offers improved app compatibility for containers and support for Kubernetes. Learn more about Windows container in our documentation.

On-premises, you can also take advantage of Windows Admin Center, a modern server management tool to manage Windows Server environments. Windows Admin Center offers connections to Azure services for Backup, and Disaster Recovery. Check out the Windows Admin Center tech docs to get started today.

And finally, for those of you using Azure already, the newly announced Azure Arc can centrally manage servers on Azure and on-premises.

More resources

Here are some learning path presentations to help you get started:

• Migrating to Windows Server 2019
• Top 5 new features in Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server Hybrid – Azure Arc
• Migrating Windows Server to Azure IaaS – Network and Storage
• Using Existing Windows Server licenses on Azure using Azure Hybrid Benefit

Finally, join us in the Windows Server Tech Community to keep up to date with experts around the world, and stay tuned for the next Windows Server Summit to learn more about the latest innovations. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

The post Protect workloads still running on Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

That’s right, you’ve guessed it, aside from all the great product and feature updates at the conference, we’re also going to have an awesome customer appreciation party on Tuesday evening, November 5, 2019. Visit the Windows Server booths to find out how to register.

So, what else is going on with Windows Server at Ignite? It’s all about modernization. We want to make sure you’re equipped to modernize your server management with Windows Admin Center, your re-imagined server management option that centralizes and simplifies previous Windows Server management tools. We also want to arm you with the information you need to migrate off of Windows Server 2008 before the end of support on January 14, 2020. Our unbeatable offers like Extended Security Updates and Azure Hybrid Benefit will get you to Azure at no additional charge above the cost of running Azure Virtual Machines. Check out the full list of sessions below!

Don’t miss speakers like Jeff Woolsey, Ned Pyle, Bernardo Caldas, and Cosmos Darwin as they take the stage and dive deep on Windows Server 2019, Windows Admin Center, Windows Server 2008 End of Support, and Azure Stack HCI.

You can begin creating your personalized Windows Server schedule at Ignite this year by copy and pasting the event code (starting with BRK, THR or WRK) into the session scheduler. The Windows Server team is very excited to meet you there. See you soon!

Windows Server Schedule for Ignite 2019 – Breakout (BRK), Theater (THR), and Workshop (WRK) sessions

The post All you need to know about Windows Server at Ignite 2019 appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

Our priority is to continue to deliver a great Office experience in on-premises virtualized environments; we have updated our Office 365 support requirements and Windows Server support documentation to reflect Office 365 ProPlus support for Windows Server 2019. We recommend taking the following steps as a best practice:

• Run Office 365 ProPlus on Windows Server 2019
• Leverage flexibility of Windows Server 2019 to implement single and multi-session capabilities
• Deploy FSLogix to ensure smooth user profile roaming and end user experience at log on
• Use OneDrive with the Files On-Demand capabilities for optimized storage and retrieval of user files

For businesses considering the next step in their journey to the cloud, these recommendations ensure the best experience for on-premises deployment while enabling migration to Microsoft’s new Windows Virtual Desktop service on Azure, now generally available worldwide. Windows Virtual Desktop provides customers with the best virtual desktop and simplified management on Azure, including support for Windows Server workloads and Office 365 ProPlus, to unlock a productive virtualized end user experience.

The post Windows Server 2019 adds support for Office 365 ProPlus appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

Why are customers choosing to deploy Windows Server Core now? It’s Windows Admin Center. This new server management tool delivers many of the benefits of the Desktop Experience and is a free download that comes with your Windows Server license. Admins love the intuitive, graphical user interface and the ability to manage your virtual machines from any Windows 10 device. It can be used to log in and manage Windows Server running anywhere. This is a great management option for Windows Server Core because the graphical interface runs locally on your client device and not on your servers. This reduces the size of the operating system that you deploy to support your server workloads.

The benefit of Windows Server Core is that it’s a minimal server installation option with fewer server components. This option creates a smaller OS footprint and is ideal for cases where you run virtual machines at scale. Because Windows Server Core does not include a traditional Windows desktop GUI, admins manage Windows Server Core with a command-line interface (CLI) such as PowerShell, which offers scaled automation and lowers server management costs.

Microsoft Office 365 realized the benefits of Windows Server Core. Exchange Online is a core part of Office 365 and has standardized with Windows Server Core across its entire fleet of cloud infrastructure servers. This is because Windows Server Core enables Office 365 to be more operationally efficient and secure by only deploying and managing the capabilities of Windows Server that it needs.

Customers are choosing the Windows Server Core installation option for Windows Server 2019 installed as the host OS on bare metal hardware at three times the rate than that of Windows Server Core for Windows Server 2016. This installation is great for hyper-converged infrastructure, Hyper-V, and storage technologies like Storage Spaces Direct. It is also an important infrastructure choice for hybrid cloud deployments. As mentioned, Windows Admin Center, the centralized management tool for Windows Server on-premises and in the cloud, has made Windows Server Core even more manageable than ever.

Windows Server 2019 application compatibility for Windows Server Core

• Increase in the compatibility of Windows Server Core for server applications that are already in market or have already been developed by organizations and deployed.
• Assistance with providing OS components and increased app compatibility of software tools used in acute troubleshooting and debugging scenarios.

If you’re curious about whether you should go with Windows Server Core or Windows Server with Desktop, find out which one is best for you in this Server Core and Server with Desktop blog. There are a number of operating system components that are available as part of the Windows Server Core App Compatibility FOD. Below you’ll find screenshots of Windows Server Core with the App Compatibility FOD installed, including Windows Event Viewer and SQL Server with SQL Management Studio, two FOD’s that customers really appreciate.

Windows Event Viewer:

SQL Server with SQL Server Management Studio:

Thank you for using Windows Server 2019. We will continue to listen and improve. Please let us know on Insider forums or User Voice if your app does not work on Server Core with the App Compatibility FOD installed, or if you have any other feedback on Windows Server.

The post Windows Admin Center unleashes Server Core adoption appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

At the Windows Server Summit in May, Cosmos Darwin and Greg Cusanza from the Windows Server team presented a lightning round all about hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) powered by Windows Server. If you haven’t had a chance to watch the event, check out the recording of the live stream and deep dive sessions by registering online. It’s quick and free.

Here are the 25 things they presented in the lightning round:

1. Azure Stack HCI Catalog

Available for purchase right now, there are over 75 Azure Stack HCI solutions from over 15 partners. Check out the Azure Stack HCI Catalog to find solutions from your preferred hardware vendor and get started today.

2. Networking and SDN coexisting side-by-side

Now all HCI solutions include what is required for software-defined networking (SDN). You no longer need to devote your entire infrastructure to SDN. Instead, you can mix and match per virtual machine (VM), using traditional VLAN-based networking alongside SDN. Try it out yourself in the latest Windows Admin Center release.

3. Deploy with SDN Express

Deploying SDN is easier than ever with SDN Express. Download the scripts and run SDN Express to get a helpful wizard that guides you through all the steps necessary for deployment–all in under 30 minutes. Learn more by reading the documentation for SDN deployment.

4. Windows Admin Center for HCI

Windows Admin Center is the future of Windows Server in-box management, and that extends to HCI as well. Add your HCI cluster to Windows Admin Center to get purpose-built tools for managing and monitoring Storage Spaces Direct and SDN, including capabilities like provisioning volumes, managing Hyper-V virtual machines, troubleshooting configuration or hardware problems, and much more.

5. Deduplication and compression for ReFS

Deduplication and compression are now available for ReFS, Microsoft’s recommended file system for HCI. Deduplication and compress increase usable capacity by identifying duplicate portions of files and only storing them once. Savings vary depending on the type of file but can range up to 90 percent for highly repetitive storage like ISO or VHDX backups. Check out the demo “Deduplication and compression for Storage Spaces Direct“ from Microsoft Ignite 2018, and read the documentation for Data Deduplication and ReFS.

6. Larger maximum scale

Even with deduplication and compression, it’s still possible to run out of capacity, so in Windows Server 2019 the maximum total raw storage capacity per cluster is increased from 1 PB in Windows Server 2016 up to 4 PB now. That’s enough space to store all of Wikipedia, in every language, with complete edit history, uncompressed! Watch the demo “Scale to over 3.5 PB with Windows Server 2019 and QCT QxStor” from Microsoft Ignite 2018 for an example.

7. Cluster sets

Now in Windows Server 2019, we can encapsulate a cluster within a cluster set and we can add additional clusters in a cluster set. The great thing about this is that a virtual machine (VM) can seamlessly live migrate from one cluster to a host in a different cluster and continue to access its storage. To learn more, read the documentation on cluster sets.

8. Span sites with SDN

In Windows Server 2019 we’ve improved the gateway performance for SDN’s by increasing from 4 Gbps to 18 Gbps in a single SDN gateway. We also have generic routing encapsulation (GRE) tunneling that connects two network controllers to allow different workloads to talk to each other as if they’re one network. To learn more about high performance gateways in Windows Server 2019, read the blog post “Top 10 Networking Features in Windows Server 2019: #6 High Performance SDN Gateways” on the Windows Server Networking Blog.

9. Native support for persistent memory

Windows Server has become more scalable over time with regards to both capacity and performance. It is on the leading edge of x86 hardware innovation and is consistently one of the first hardware systems and hypervisors to support new hardware technology, such as the Intel Xeon processors and Intel Optane. Watch the demo at Microsoft Ignite 2018, and read the documentation “Understand and deploy persistent memory.”

10. Faster networking with fewer cycles/byte

In addition to hardware improvements, we’ve also been investing in our networking stack. Some of the feature improvements include nearly double the throughput for send and receive paths, lower CPU utilization, more equipped for high bandwidth, high latency links, and a Data Plane Developer Kit (DPDK) for Windows that bypasses the host networking stack to speed up packet processing capabilities. You can read more about all of these features on our Windows Server Networking Blog.

11. Mirror-accelerated parity is 2X faster

The storage team has also been focused on optimizations with mirror accelerated parity, a technology that allows you to create a volume that partly uses mirror resiliency and parity, or erasure coding resiliency. This provides the benefit of faster writes and opens up capacity.

12. Built-in performance history

HCI now has built-in performance history. It easily gets historical data and displays over 50 performance counters in aggregate. There’s nothing that you have to install, set up, or configure. Explore more in the documentation for performance history.

13. Shielded virtual machines

Shielded virtual machines are part of the core hypervisor and have been improved so that even if you don’t have network access you can still connect to it through the console in PowerShell Direct. We’ve also added the ability to add Linux inside your shielded VMs. Watch the five minute overview video of shielded VMs and check out the documentation for VM connect and PowerShell Direct to shielded VMs, as well as deploying Linux inside a shielded VM.

14. Core scheduler

It’s also important to protect your hypervisor host. In Windows Server 2016 we had the Classic Scheduler that offered fair share, preemptive round-robin scheduling for guest virtual processors. In Windows Server 2019, we have a new hypervisor scheduler called Core Scheduler, which constrains the virtual processors to physical core boundaries, further isolating virtual machines. Understand further details by reading the documentation “Managing Hyper-V hypervisor scheduler types.”

15. HTTP/2

In Windows Server 2019 we’ve made HTTP/2 better with connection coalescing, which allows two websites with a common domain name to share a certificate and a single TCP connection. It also has an improved cipher suite selection, which reduces connection failures and continues to enforce blacklisted ciphers.

16. More secure clustering

The core failover clustering has gotten more secure by completely removing dependency on NTLM, exclusively using Kerberos or certificate-based authentication between nodes, and now no change is required by the user or deployment tools. Check out the documentation “What’s new in Failover Clustering” to learn more.

17. Cluster-aware updating for HCI

Cluster-aware updating for HCI now allows you to easily keep your Windows Server fully patched with the latest updates. It is a technology that orchestrates the roll-out of updates across your server nodes. More information is included in the documentation “What’s new in Failover Clustering,” as well as during the demo “Be an IT hero with Storage Spaces Direct in Windows Server 2019” during Microsoft Ignite 2018.

18. USB witness

Now in Windows Serve 2019, in addition to file share witness requiring an on-premises connection, and cloud witness requiring a connection to the cloud, we are also offering a third option called “USB witness,” which allows you to insert into a compatible router or switch. More information can be found in the documentation “What’s new in Failover Clustering,” as well as in the example steps to configure USB witness with the NetGear Nighthawk X4S.

19. Nested resiliency

Nested resiliency keeps you up and running even in the event of having both a drive failure and server failure at the same time. It uses RAID 5 + 1 to do parity resiliency and mirror that across to the other server. This allows you to survive multiple failovers even with a two-node cluster. To learn more, refer to the documentation “Nested resiliency for Storage Spaces Direct.”

20. Protection with Azure Site Recovery

For smaller sites and branch offices, Azure Site Recovery allows you backup your virtual machines to Azure and is integrated into Windows Admin Center. To learn more, refer to the documentation “Protect your Hyper-V Virtual Machines with Azure Site Recovery and Windows Admin Center.”

21. Azure Monitor and Health Service

Health Service on Windows Admin Center is now integrated with Azure Monitor and provides email and SMS notifications when something goes wrong. Learn how to configure Azure Monitor for HCI.

22. Integration with Azure Network Adapter

Azure Network Adapter is an integration into Windows Admin Center that allows you to connect a single server to an Azure virtual gateway so that you can get access from that server to your Azure files and VMs running in Azure. Watch the Microsoft Mechanics video “Windows Server 2019 + Microsoft Azure = hybrid management updates” for a demo.

23. LEDBaT or PacketMon

LEDBaT will back off lower priority workloads in order to let high priority traffic to take over and when the higher priority traffic slows down, the lower priority traffic will pick back up again in a second or two. Read more about LEDBaT on the Networking Blog.

24. High accuracy time

By implementing features such as Precision Time Protocol, Traceability, and Leap Seconds support, we’ve ensured improved time accuracy, especially for those of you in regulated industries. Learn more about high accuracy time features in the Windows Server Summit session and in the Windows Time Service documentation.

25. Over 25,000 clusters worldwide!

Last year, we had 10,000 clusters running around the world and this year we have over 25,000 clusters running storage spaces direct!

That’s a wrap!

We just gave you 25 reasons why you should consider HCI with Windows Server. And again, register online to watch the session from Windows Server Summit if you’ve missed it. From security to scalability and enhanced management, we are continuously improving our products to meet your data center needs. And if you stay tuned, I have no doubt you’ll be seeing 25 more reasons soon!

The post 25 reasons to choose Azure Stack HCI appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

Greetings!

With the launch of Windows Server 2019 a few months ago, we kicked off a whole new wave of innovation focused on four pillars: Hybrid Cloud, Security, Application Platform, and Hyper-Converged Infrastructure, and it was just the beginning. Today, we’re excited to share with you a few feature areas of the next Windows Server, Semi-Annual Channel release – version 1903.

What’s new in Windows Server, version 1903

For version 1903, we’re focusing on App Platform, edge computing, Windows Admin Center, and App Compatibility.

In this release period, we’ll bring innovation in fundamentals and platform capabilities, closely working with the broader ecosystem to ensure compatibility. Some of the new capabilities will be available with this release, while others will be available through other channels including Azure and our ecosystem partners.

App Platform

Windows Server, version 1903 will continue to serve as an application platform for customers who are modernizing their applications on-premises or in the cloud with Windows containers.

1. We have been building platform capabilities to support Azure container services and third-party container services.
   • We integrated CRI-Containerd with Host Compute Service to support Pods of Windows Containers and Linux Containers on Windows on Azure.
   • We worked with the Kubernetes community to enable Windows container support. On March 25, 2019, with the release of Kubernetes v1.14, Windows Server node support officially graduated from beta to stable. To learn more, refer to the blog post, “Windows containers now supported in Kubernetes.”

2. We delivered scalability improvements enhancing overlay networking support for Windows containers, including integration with Kubernetes through the latest release of Flannel and Kubernetes v1.14. Try out Windows support in Kubernetes.
3. Based on customer interest in GPU acceleration, we’re taking the first step by enabling support for hardware acceleration of DirectX APIs in Windows containers. We believe this will enable new and interesting scenarios such as edge-local machine learning inferencing. Find out more in the blog post, “Bringing GPU acceleration to Windows containers.”
4. We updated documentation related to container identity/Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSA) with more examples and compatibility information. We’ve also made the Credential Spec module available in the PowerShell Gallery. For more information, refer to the blog post, “What’s new for container identity.”

Note: If you are using the Windows Server, version 1903 Insider Build on Azure, please note the build number is 18342. To ensure that you can run a Windows Server container on that build, use a Windows Server container build the same or lower than 18342. For example, you can run:

“docker pull mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore/insider:10.0.18342.1”

OR

“docker pull mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore/insider:10.0.18323.1000”

This practice of ensuring version compatibility applies to any Windows Server containers you may run, not just the case here. Please check the docs on Windows container version compatibility for more details.

Edge computing

As more applications, workloads, and services move to the cloud, certain edge computing scenarios are emerging where the logic is best suited to run locally rather than in the cloud. Applications that use Internet of Things (IoT) provide one example, and additional scenarios include data normalization, data analysis, and device control.

System Insights is a local predictive analytics feature introduced in Windows Server 2019. The System Insights predictive capabilities, each backed by a machine learning or analytics model, analyze Windows Server system data, such as performance counters and events. These capabilities provide insight into server operations, helping reduce the operational expenses associated with reactively managing deployment issues.

With the upcoming April Windows Admin Center (WAC) release, you can use the System Insights WAC extension to find, install, and update new System Insights capabilities. Coming shortly after the April WAC release, we will publish a new capability that allows you to detect anomalies in physical disk metrics. You can download this new capability entirely through WAC without updating your OS. This capability will work on both Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server, version 1903. With this capability, you can avoid setting static thresholds that require prior knowledge of expected behavior, and instead depend on this capability to automatically detect abnormal behavior in your physical disk metrics. In the future, we plan to extend these capabilities, improving the information you can leverage to best administrate your servers and infrastructure.

Windows Admin Center

Hybrid cloud makes it easier to run IT operations locally while still maximizing the benefits of the cloud. This includes easier distribution of data, monitoring infrastructure, and ease of deploying new apps. To improve the experience across cloud and on-premises, version 1903 brings the following innovations:

• Synergize migration with Azure File Sync: The Storage Migration Service leads to the Azure File Sync (AFS) WAC experience, where a customer who migrates from Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2019 then deploys Azure File Sync and manages that data.
• Allow direct-to-Azure storage migrations with Storage Migration Service (SMS): Customers can migrate from Windows Server 2003, 2008/R2, 2012/R2, or Linux Samba directly to a running IaaS virtual machine.
• Make Azure cluster witness an opt-out: We now default quorum management into an Azure blob instead of a local store.
• Expand and iterate on the growing set of WAC’s Azure integration scenarios, including Azure Site Recovery, Azure Backup, Azure Active Directory authentication, Azure Update Management, and Azure Monitor alerts.

Server Core App Compatibility – Feature on Demand

The App Compatibility Feature on Demand for Server Core, introduced with Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server, version 1809, continues to be popular with customers using it in a variety of scenarios. Feedback since launch has led to two significant additions:

1. Task Scheduler (Taskschd.msc): More easily schedule your apps, actions, and scripts!
2. Hyper-V Manager (Virtmgmt.msc): Create and connect to virtual machines hosted on Server Core + the App Compatibility feature on demand (FOD)!

A reminder that Server Core is the recommended server OS installation type for production (managed by Windows Admin Center and/or Powershell). The App Compatibility FOD is intended for those specific workloads or enterprise apps that require more than what Server Core alone provides. This helps IT environments to standardize on Server Core.

Reminder: Windows Server Semi-Annual Channel is designed for faster innovation.

Get started today with version 1903

Windows Server, version 1903 Insider Builds

• Get the latest Windows Server Insider Build.
• Insider Build 18342 is now available through the Azure portal and the Azure Marketplace.

Windows Server, Version 1903 Container Insider Builds

• Server Core container Insider Builds
• Nano Server container Insider Builds
• Windows container Insider Builds

Windows Admin Center 1904 is now generally available. Easily manage your server instances and optionally enable various Azure services to light up hybrid scenarios.

All Insider previews are available for registered Insiders only. Need to register? See the Getting Started with Windows Server Insider Preview page for more information.

Learn more!

Attend our Windows Server Summit virtual event on May 22, 2019 to hear more on what’s to come from our Windows Server Team.

• Windows Server Summit 2019 event page
• Register for the Windows Server Summit

The post First sneak peek of Windows Server, version 1903 Semi-Annual Channel appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

It’s that time of the year again! Spring is in the air and Windows Server Summit is right around the corner. On May 22nd at Windows Server Summit 2019 you can discover how Windows Server can help you deliver your hybrid cloud strategy as well as gain tips on how to modernize your evolving infrastructure. The great thing about Windows Server Summit is that you can attend from anywhere in the world since it is all virtual – just kick up your feet and hit the link to join.

This year expect to deep dive in to technical Windows Server content covered by leading industry experts. Some of the heavy hitters you’ll hear from include leaders from the product team like Jeff Woolsey, Ned Pyle, Cosmos Darwin, and Haley Rowland. We’ll even have a fireside chat with experts from our Windows Sever community and live Q&A. You don’t want to miss this!

Sign up now for Windows Server Summit 2019.

What’s included in the event?

• Innovations in Microsoft Hybrid Strategy: Deep dive into Microsoft’s hyper-converged technologies and how to add hybrid services from Azure.
• Modernize Windows Server apps and workloads: Learn about security, Remote Desktop Services (RDS), containers, and application compatibility.
• New in management and security: See what’s new in Windows Admin Center, System Center 2019, and Windows Server 2019 – making it easier to deploy, manage, and monitor Windows Server anywhere.
• Insights and best practices: Fireside chat with Windows Server community experts.
• Looking ahead: Learn more about Windows Server Semi-Annual Channel and Windows Server on Azure.

In the meantime, check out our latest and greatest products:

Windows Server 2019

Leverage the benefits of the cloud in a hybrid cloud environment with Azure services now available in the latest release of Windows Server 2019.

Windows Admin Center

It couldn’t be easier to manage servers, clusters, and hyper-converged infrastructures than on Windows Admin Center. Download the latest release of Windows Admin Center and see it for yourself!

Azure Stack HCI

Run virtual machines on-premises and easily connect to Azure with a Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) solution. Learn more on our new Azure Stack HCI page.

Get a head start

Check out the on-demand videos on our Windows Server Summit page.

As you can see, we have lots of great new content to share with you. Stay tuned as we continue to provide more about Windows Server Summit 2019. We can’t wait to see you at the event!

The post It’s that time again: Windows Server Summit 2019! appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

Updated on June 17, 2019: Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2019 is now available in the Evaluation Center. All previous issues related to the evaluation media have been resolved.

Updated on January 17, 2019: The Windows Server 2019 evaluation media is now available in the Evaluation Center.

On October 2, 2018, we announced the availability of Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server, version 1809. Later that week, we paused the rollout of these new releases to investigate isolated reports of users missing files after updating to the latest Windows 10 feature update. We take any case of data loss seriously, so we proactively removed all related media from our channels as we started investigation of the reports and have now fixed all known related issues.

In addition to extensive internal validation, we have taken time to closely monitor feedback and diagnostic data from our Windows Insiders and from millions of devices on the Windows 10 October 2018 Update. There is no further evidence of data loss. Based on this data, today we are beginning the re-release of Windows Server 2019, Windows Server, version 1809, and the related versions of Windows 10.

Customers with a valid license of Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server, version 1809 can download the media from the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC). Azure customers will see the Windows Server 2019 image available in the Azure Marketplace over the coming week. We are also working to make the Windows Server 2019 evaluation available on the Microsoft Eval Center. We will provide an update to this blog and our social channels once it’s available.

November 13, 2018 marks the revised start of the servicing timeline for both the Long-Term Servicing Channel and the Semi-Annual Channel. For more information please visit the Support Lifecycle page.

The post Update on Windows Server 2019 availability appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

We released the newest version of Remote Desktop Services (RDS), RDS 2019, on October 2, 2018. RDS 2019 builds on the strong foundation of RDS 2016, letting you rapidly deploy on-premises or in the cloud. RDS 2019 is generally available with Windows Server 2019.

RDS 2019 will give customers the opportunity to leverage fantastic enhancements that make it the optimal version of RDS, to date, with several areas of innovation to improve the administrative and client experiences.

We brought innovation centered around three areas in RDS 2019 – Simplify IT management, User experience, and Improved security.

Simplify IT management

We have time and again heard from customers that license management should focus on simplification to scale deployments. Over the past few years, we have focused on improving management of Remote Desktop (RD) Licensing servers and entitlement through Active Directory (AD).

• Now, you will be able to leverage high availability RD Licensing servers with forward-compatibility for future versions of Windows Server to enable easier management of licenses from a variety of RDS releases.
• We have also made it easier to manage licenses for your employees by bringing the ability for the RD Licensing servers to update RDS user Client Access Licenses (CALs) into AD objects without accessing AD directly.
• Lastly, we added perfmon (Performance Counters) APIs to provide partners an easy way to access data to build monitoring dashboards and deliver a consistent user experience.

User experience

We have also invested in providing an enhanced user experience where end users will be able to leverage desktops and apps through RDS 2019 to maximize productivity.

• To start, we have added modern notifications for RemoteApp in the Action Center to improve productivity with applications like Microsoft Outlook.
• We have improved upon innovations in Discrete Device Assignment in RDS 2016 to bring better security, virtual machine (VM) isolation, and performance for your graphic-intensive workloads. These improvements in GPU virtualization technologies will result in reduced network traffic and smooth video playback.

• In addition to the GPU virtualization technology, we added high-level redirection of built-in or attached video cameras to deliver optimized video stream at higher frame rates in new and legacy remote applications and desktops. Users can now have a better experience with video-intensive interactions.

• Lastly, we have reduced CPU usage on the client and server and bandwidth with better image quality to bring a faster end-to-end web client experience.

Security

One of our primary goals as the Remote Desktop Services product team is to help improve your security posture for your desktop and app virtualization environments. We have improved security through several enhancements.

• With Windows Admin Center integration, it is easy to consolidate all local and remote server management into a single pane.
• We have brought several Windows Defender optimizations for multi-session to give you more confidence in bringing a secure, scalable and cost-effective desktop experience to end users.
• We also added web client support for Single Sign-on (SSO) to deliver a streamlined authentication experience for users connecting via the web client.
• A few additional features include easy-to-configure DTLS-based encryption, all of which, work toward providing a trusted end-to-end RDS deployment.

Deploying RDS 2019 on Azure

We recognize that giving you the ability and making it easier to deploy RDS on Azure gives you a lot of flexibility, scalability, security and several other advantages of Azure. To improve flexibility and ease of cloud adoption, we also support hybrid deployments where the infrastructure roles can be in Azure while the host Virtual Machines (VMs) can be on-premises.

Key enhancements for deploying RDS 2019 on Azure include using Azure Key Vault for simplified certificate management and using Azure SQL DB for the RD licensing high-availability feature.

Lastly, later in October we will announce the availability of Remote Desktop Services (RDS) subscriptions through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program. The availability of RDS in CSP addresses customer needs for additional cost-effective solutions that support desktop and app virtualization.

With RDS Subscriptions, partners can directly sell RDS subscriptions through our CSP program, eliminating the extra step of customers and partners acquiring different licenses through various programs. With this model, customers can enjoy a faster licensing cycle due to CSP integration with other Microsoft licenses including Windows Server, SQL Server, and Office to make it easy for partners to simplify the buying process.

For more technical information on RDS 2019, please refer to the RDS documentation page.

Download Windows Server 2019 that includes RDS 2019 now.

Frequently asked questions

Q: When will I be able to download the final version of Windows Server 2019?

A: Windows Server 2019 that includes RDS 2019 became generally available on October 2, 2018. It is available for evaluation and download through Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC).

Q: Is Remote Desktop Server included in Windows Server 2019?

A: Yes. Remote Desktop Server 2019 will be a server role in Windows Server 2019.

Q: How do we view this announcement with Windows Virtual Desktop announcement at Ignite?

A: This is the most up-to-date version of RDS to enable running the latest on-premises multi-session virtualization available with Windows Server. Windows Virtual Desktop is a desktop and application virtualization service on Azure. Read the blog post Microsoft 365 adds modern desktop on Azure for more information.

Q: How is RDS on Azure different from Windows Virtual Desktop?

A: RDS is the ideal on-premises desktop and application virtualization solution, with a Windows Server operating system to provide a multi-session desktop experience. When deployed on Azure, you can scale your deployment and manage RD infrastructure roles in your own subscription. Windows Virtual Desktop enables customers to deliver a brand-new multi-session capability with a full Windows 10 experience, with the scale and flexibility of Azure. With this new service, Microsoft manages the infrastructure roles. Windows Virtual Desktop will be available for public preview later this calendar year. For more information, please visit the product page.

Q: Will there be a path to go from RDS to Windows Virtual Desktop?

A: Yes, we are developing Azure documentation guidance for this migration path as Windows Virtual Desktop gets closer to public preview later in calendar year 2018.

The post Remote Desktop Services 2019 generally available with Windows Server 2019 appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

It’s hard to believe Ignite 2018 is now behind us. Last week at Ignite, we announced Windows Server 2019 and talked about the new hybrid, security, application platform, and hyper-converged infrastructure capabilities. Today, we are making it available for download.

If you are a Windows Server customer with valid Software Assurance, you can download Windows Server 2019 on the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC). You can also download the evaluation version of Windows Server 2019 at the Evaluation Center.

For customers running Windows Server on Azure, Windows Server 2019 is also available in the Azure Marketplace. Later in October, we’ll be adding Windows Server 2019 to Visual Studio Subscription (former MSDN) and other portals, such as the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN).

Learn more about Windows Server 2019

With the release of a new version of Windows Server, it’s time to learn about what’s new and try it out. At Ignite, we had tons of sessions and those are available for you on demand. If you want to go deeper on the details, you can find the updated documentation in the Windows Server technical content library.

If you are upgrading from an older version, you can check the new Upgrade Center, where you can find useful information on the upgrade process, as well as pre and post activities.

For those of you already looking ahead, join the Insiders program. We will continue to ship new builds of Windows Server that will first land on the next Semi-Annual Channel and later in the next Long-Term Servicing Channel.

We can’t wait to see what you’ll do with Windows Server 2019! Download it today!

The post Windows Server 2019 – now generally available! appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.