We want to continue to invest in your organizations’ success and enable you to get the most out of Windows Server by keeping you informed of the latest product announcements, news, and overall best practices. Here are the top five to-do’s for you to make the most out of Windows Server:

1. Patch and install security updates without rebooting with Hotpatch

Hotpatch is now generally available. As part of Azure Automanage for Windows Server, this capability allows you to keep your Windows Server virtual machines on Azure up-to-date without rebooting, enabling higher availability with faster and more secure delivery of updates. Other capabilities that are part of Azure Automanage for Windows Server include SMB over QUIC, as well as extended network for Azure, which lets you keep your on-premises IP addresses when you migrate to Azure. Learn more about why Azure is the best destination for Windows Server.

2. Take the recently available Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Certification

Invest in your career and skills with this brand-new Windows Server certification. With this certification, you can keep the Windows Server knowledge you have built your career on and learn how to apply it in the current state of hybrid cloud computing. Earn this certification for managing, monitoring, and securing applications on-premises, in Azure, and at the edge. Learn more about Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate certification today.

3. Upgrade to Windows Server 2022

With Windows Server 2022, get the latest innovation for you to continue running your workloads securely, enable new hybrid cloud scenarios, and modernize applications to meet your ever-evolving business requirements. Learn more about investing in your success with Windows Server.

4. Protect your workloads by taking advantage of free extended security updates (ESUs) in Azure

While many customers have adopted Windows Server 2022, we also understand that some need more time to modernize as support for older versions of Windows Server will eventually end.

• For Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 customers, the end of support date is October 10, 2023. 
• For Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 customers, the third year of extended security updates are coming to an end on January 10, 2023. Customers can get an additional fourth year of free extended security updates (ESUs-only) on Azure (including Azure Stack HCI, Azure Stack Hub, and other Azure products). With this, customers will have until January 9, 2024 for Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 to upgrade to a supported release.

We are committed to supporting you as you start planning for end of support if you are running workloads on older versions of Windows Server. Learn more about end of support deadlines for Windows Server 2008/R2 and 2012/R2 and your options.

5. Combine extended security updates with Azure Hybrid Benefit to save even more

In addition to all the innovative Windows Server capabilities available only on Azure, it also has offers for you to start migrating your workloads with Azure Hybrid Benefit. It is a licensing benefit that allows you to save even more by using existing Windows Server licenses on Azure. Learn more about how much you can save with Azure Hybrid Benefit.

Ask questions and engage in our community

Get started implementing these Windows Server best practices today! Join the conversation by sharing stories or questions you have here:  

• Windows Server Tech Community.
• @windowsserver on Twitter.

¹_{Note: In alignment with the servicing model for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 (link to blog), the Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 ESU program will only include Monthly Rollup packages; Security Only update packages will not be provided.}

The post Get the most out of Windows Server with these 5 best practices appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

If you’re interested in learning how Microsoft technologies work—for example, Windows Server, Exchange Server, Windows Azure, and SharePoint Server 2013—this is the Windows Store app for you.

Enjoy! Kevin

Hi, we’re Martin McClean and Brian Lich from the Windows Server Information Experience team.

Server Posterpedia is a Windows Store app designed for Windows 8 and Windows RT that brings graphical content together with content from TechNet and MSDN. It enables you to learn about Microsoft technologies by providing deep links to Microsoft content from within a Windows Store app. Today we’re pleased to announce that Server Posterpedia v2 is available in the Windows Store. The following features are available in version 2:

• Image hotspots that allow you to get content specific to a part of the poster (new).
• Semantic zoom that enables easy navigation of the different groups (new).
• A full-screen viewing mode without the chrome and hotspots (new).
• The ability to share a link to a poster through email (new).
• App bar buttons specific to each poster.
• Technical content for Hyper-V, Active Directory, Remote Desktop Services, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2007, SharePoint Server 2010, Windows Azure, SQL Server, Lync Server 2010, and Office 2013.

Server Posterpedia is updated frequently with new content, so be sure to download any app updates when you’re notified.

If you’re running Windows 8, you can get this app from the Windows Store:
https://aka.ms/sposterpedia

If you’re not running Windows 8 yet, check out this video that illustrates the app’s features and functionality:
https://aka.ms/sposterpediavid

The post Server Posterpedia v2 available in the Windows Store! appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

I am happy to announce that Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V has passed the Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level 4+ (EAL 4+). Over the past 10 years, Microsoft has continued to demonstrate leadership in certifying our operating systems and applications, in order to provide customers with the additional confidence of independent validation of our design and security engineering.

Similar to our previous operating system evaluations and the independent Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V evaluation, we used the Windows Server 2008 R2 evaluation to demonstrate how Hyper-V is methodically designed, tested, and reviewed from a security perspective. The Hyper-V evaluation focused on isolation between the host partition and guest partitions, isolation between guest partitions and the Live Migration capability, which was added in Windows Server 2008 R2.

The Hyper-V evaluation was performed by atsec Information Security GmbH and certified by the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), the body of the German government which certifies products according to the ITSEC criteria for evaluating computer security and the Common Criteria (CC).

Windows Server “8” will continue to build on this capability and security in Hyper-V and the Windows Server platform to provide consistent, reliable and secure platform solutions for private clouds and datacenters. We encourage customers to explore and build on the evaluated Hyper-V platform to meet your needs for the next generation applications and services!

The post Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V has passed Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level 4+ (EAL 4+) appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

• Improve data quality in your identity infrastructure – audit existing users and groups to ensure your ad store is running only accurate data
• Enable Federated identity – self-explanatory, but it’s a big part of bridging the gap between public and private clouds
• Enable all the building blocks of a private cloud – that includes Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V, an optimized Active Directory store and System Center (notably Configuration Manager and Virtual Machine Manager).
• Standardize and automate your processes and workflows – to take the best advantage of a private cloud infrastructure, you’ll need to build standardized server, platform and application packages and templates. That’s only possible if you’ve done your homework and standardized the processes and workflows that those software packages will support.
• Think about how the IT Pro role needs to change – the cloud enables huge efficiencies in the data center. Be a hero today as you enable the cloud, but work to become a Director tomorrow. Combine a deep knowledge of your business’ needs, future directions and work processes with your expertise in technology. Use this combination and the power of the cloud to not just enable IT for your business, but to actually turn IT into a competitive edge the business can directly convert into new business and revenue. That’s the big win for tomorrow’s cloud IT pro.
• Last, take advantage of Microsoft guidance – We’ll be releasing lots of guidance, both technical and higher-level, regarding the journey to cloud computing in the coming months. Check the Microsoft cloud pages, TechNet’s cloud resources and especially the Hyper-V Cloud Fast Track pages for in-depth technical guidance. There’s much more to come, so check back often.

Oliver Rist

SCPM

The post 6 Steps to Get Ready for Private Cloud appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a paper last week on Enterprise Servers which discusses the results of some recent power efficiency tests comparing an HP server from a few years ago running Windows Server 2003 with a modern Energy Star-Qualified HP server running Windows Server 2008 R2.  A few highlights from the website and paper:

• In some of these tests, the new ENERGY STAR server consumed 54% less power than the older model servers and OS.
• The power savings also come with a substantial increase in performance – at 50% utilization, for example, the newer, more energy-efficient server and OS handle over three times the work, thereby helping reduce the number of systems needed to support a given workload.
• The total savings over the useful lifetime of a server is estimated at between $480 and $1,440 per server.

Several major OEMs, including HP who contributed to the testing as discussed in the paper, have now released servers which have obtained the Enhanced Power Management Additional Qualifier during their Certified for Windows Server 2008 R2 logo certification (http://www.windowsservercatalog.com/).  These servers work with Windows Server to improve power efficiency “out of the box” without requiring manual configuration, provide additional power monitoring capabilities, and even enable power budgeting.

R2 offers the possibility to impact the environment – and costs – in a worthwhile way, whether your organization is large or small.  And now you can read more about the potential for power savings from the EPA.

Dan Reger
Senior Product Manager, Windows Server

The post US EPA Publishes Paper on Energy Savings from Energy Star-Qualified Enterprise Servers Running Windows Server 2008 R2 appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

As part of his analysis, he gives a nod to some of the reasons for this growth, with the need for business agility and the proliferation of mobile and social computing being front and center. At the same time, he identifies a couple of “head scratchers,” raising the question: “if virtualization is growing and cloud computing is growing, how can the market for private enterprise servers also be growing?”

It’s a great question, and one that we hear frequently given that we are the only company to provide both a server platform, Windows Server, and a cloud services platform, the Windows Azure platform. How can both markets possibly grow at the same time? And growing they are. As Ryan points out, IDC is seeing strong growth in the server market. Just last week the analyst firm issued its Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker, which showed that “server unit shipments increased 23.8% year over year in 2Q10… representing the fastest year-over-year quarterly server shipment growth in more than five years.”

While it may seem contradictory at first blush, there are a number of reasons for this and it is actually pretty straight forward. When we talk to customers, the vast majority of them are thinking about cloud computing and looking at how to bring cloud-like capabilities and benefits (cost savings, elastic scalability, self-service, etc.) into their organization. However, they are all in different stages of the process, with very disparate infrastructure and business needs. And for many organizations, a wholesale move to a public cloud service isn’t particularly realistic in the short term, whether it’s due to regulatory requirements, geographic concerns, or the nature of the workloads and data they are hosting.

In addition, there are other organizations that will want to take advantage of the benefits of cloud computing, but also may want to preserve existing infrastructure investments and maintain a level of versatility that can’t be met by public clouds Enter the notion of “private clouds” and again, enter Windows Server. We continue to make enhancements to Windows Server to make it easy for customers and partners to use it to build private (and public) cloud services, such as the recent release of System Center Virtual Machine Manager Self-Service Portal 2.0.

Both of these scenarios continue to drive heavy demand for our Windows Server platform. In that same IDC report from last week, Microsoft is highlighted as the server market leader, “with hardware revenue increasing 36.6% and unit shipments increasing 28.2% year over year.”” Those are big growth numbers, even with more than 10,000 customers signing up to our Windows Azure platform this year.

So is there still room for enterprise servers in a cloud computing era? Absolutely. The numbers and customers don’t lie. Offering both a server and a services platform with onramps to the cloud is at the heart of our business strategy and a reason why we are seeing such success in both areas. For those organizations that want a highly optimized, scalable environment where we prescribe the hardware and normalize the cost of operations, there’s our services platform, the Windows Azure platform. For those that want the versatility to enable environments of any scale, or need custom hardware configurations and operating models, there’s our server platform, built on Windows Server. And, of course, we have a common application development, identity and management model spanning the two platforms, which doesn’t hurt either.

Curious what others think on this topic? What do you think are the reasons for ongoing growth in the server market?

The post Cloud Computing a Catalyst for Server Growth? appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

• Driver support for synthetic devices: Linux Integration Services supports the synthetic network controller and the synthetic storage controller that were developed specifically for Hyper-V.
• Fastpath Boot Support for Hyper-V: Boot devices take advantage of the block Virtualization Service Client (VSC) to provide enhanced performance.
• Timesync: The clock inside the virtual machine will remain synchronized with the clock on the host.
• Integrated Shutdown: Virtual machines running Linux can be gracefully shut down from either Hyper-V Manager or System Center Virtual Machine Manager.
• Symmetric Multi-Processing (SMP) Support: Supported Linux distributions can use up to 4 virtual processors (VP) per virtual machine.
• Heartbeat: Allows the host to detect whether the guest is running and responsive.
• Pluggable Time Source: A pluggable clock source module is included to provide a more accurate time source to the guest.

Also, please note that this version supports Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP3, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 / 5.3 / 5.4 / 5.5. Head on over to the download page to give it a try.

The post Linux Integration Services version 2.1 goes RTM appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

• Heterogeneous server environment inventory
• Software usage tracking for Windows Server, SharePoint Server, System Center Configuration Manager, Exchange Server and SQL Server
• Microsoft Office 2010 readiness assessment
• SQL Server discovery and assessment for consolidation
• Windows 2000 Server migration assessment

This is a powerful tool for assessing your current IT situation and planning for the future — and it’s free! Make sure to check it out.

The post Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) v5 toolkit now available appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

An IT consultant from the Austin, TX area reported that he was now uncomfortably bunking on a worn cot in his garage after running Best Practices Analyzer on his wife. “It worked so well on Remote Desktop Services, especially with the April update that added new Best Practices rules–I thought I’d try it out at home, see what I would get. Well, unfortunately, it found that my wife’s somewhat dated ‘mom jeans’ were ‘noncompliant,’ and when I chose not to use BPA’s feature that allows you to ignore results you don’t need to see, I…well, I’m on this cot. Should’ve ignored those results.”

We heard a sad one from an IT pro in Portland, OR, who, after installing the Best Practices Analyzer update for Hyper-V when it came out, was so impressed by how much time it saved her configuring her enterprise’s virtual machines that she decided to try it out on her dad. “I just meant to tease him,” she said. “Naturally, the first result it returned was ‘Noncompliant–Lose the mullet, public service announcement, the ’80s are over.’ Dad, he didn’t think it was funny at all. In fact, he’s growing the mullet out even longer in protest. It’s not pretty. And he’s not really speaking to me right now, I just get a harumph out of him every once in a while, but the only way I can tell is that the mop of hair surrounding his face stirs a bit when he does it.”

The release of BPA updates for DHCP, NPAS, and AD DS provoked a similar wave of doleful tales. The worst involve IT pros running scans on their teenaged children. Let’s just say that, from our e-mail, we’ve learned a few interesting new hand signals that your children are using when they want to indicate to you roughly the same general concept: I would like to communicate my indifference to your information in the strongest possible terms. Hoo boy, are we learning a lot.

Fortunately, when you use new Best Practices Analyzer update packages for File Services, WSUS, AD RMS, or Application Server, you’ll never receive such responses from your server roles. You’ll never know the pain of having your mother run a BPA scan on your own life, and having her *snif* carefully fold her exported and printed Warning results that show you’re not getting any younger and it’s time to settle down and give her grandchildren, tuck the results into a pink-flowered envelope, and mail them to you. No, *choke*, at least you won’t suffer that.

Friends, please; we’re telling you this for your own good: BPA scans are absolutely awesome on 12 of the server roles that are running on Windows Server 2008 R2. But they’re a really lousy idea for your personal life. Thanks, and happy scanning. On servers.

The post Best Practices Analyzer: Run it on your server roles, not your loved ones appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.

• Active Directory Certificate Services
• Active Directory Domain Services
• Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS)
• DHCP Server
• DNS Server
• File Services (including File Server Resource Manager)
• Hyper-V
• Print and Document Services
• Streaming Media Services
• Web Server (including a subset of ASP.NET)

Over time, the number of reboots for patching or security updates is significantly reduced for a Server Core installation of which the benefits are obvious.  In some cases, customers can see up to a 60% reduction in patch requirements and the number of reboots on a monthly basis.  Over time, more roles and configurations will support Server Core and is already a best practice in many enterprise environments.  Many line of business and third party applications support running on a Server Core installation – not just the in-box roles of Windows Server above.

To get started with a Server Core installation now, see our downloadable guide.

The post Server Core: Best Practice for Applications on Windows Server appeared first on Microsoft Windows Server Blog.