{"id":10115,"date":"2018-03-29T09:00:31","date_gmt":"2018-03-29T16:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cloudblogs.microsoft.com\/windowsserver\/?p=10115"},"modified":"2024-03-07T16:30:37","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T00:30:37","slug":"windows-server-semi-annual-channel-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/windows-server\/blog\/2018\/03\/29\/windows-server-semi-annual-channel-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Windows Server Semi-Annual Channel update"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This blog post was authored by Jeff Woolsey, Principal Program Manager, Windows Server & Hybrid Cloud. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UPDATE:<\/strong> Windows Server, version 1803 is now generally available for Software Assurance customers. You can access the VLSC portal<\/a> to download the bits. Azure customers will soon be able to deploy this release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week we announced that Windows Server 2019<\/a>, the next release in the Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC), will be generally available in the second half of calendar year 2018. Today, we would like to give you an overview of the next Semi-Annual Channel release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long-Term Servicing Channel and Semi-Annual Channel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In September 2017, we released Windows Server version 1709, the first release in the Semi-Annual Channel. The Semi-Annual Channel has a faster release cadence and addresses feedback from many of you who want faster innovation every few months. This complements the Long-Term Servicing Channel where the release cadence is every 2-3 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the launch of Windows Server version 1709, we learned more from our customers and partners about how they were using the Semi-Annual Channel release. Based on telemetry and feedback that we received from the Windows Insiders program and production deployments, we learned that the Semi-Annual Channel is ideal for modern applications and innovation scenarios such as containers and micro-services while LTSC is the preferred release for core infrastructure scenarios such as software-defined datacenter and hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI). Based on this insight, moving forward, we’re focusing our efforts on specific scenarios for Semi-Annual Channel and LTSC as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/strong><\/td>Long-Term Servicing Channel<\/strong><\/td>Semi-Annual Channel<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Recommended scenarios                                          <\/strong><\/td>General purpose file servers, first and third-party workloads, traditional apps, infrastructure roles, software-defined Datacenter, and Hyper-converged infrastructure<\/td>Containerized applications, container hosts, and application scenarios benefiting from faster innovation<\/td><\/tr>
New releases<\/strong><\/td>Every 2\u20133 years<\/td>Every 6 months<\/td><\/tr>
Support<\/strong><\/td>5 years of Mainstream support
+ 5 years of Extended support<\/td>		18 months<\/td><\/tr>
Editions<\/strong><\/td>All available Windows Server editions<\/td>Standard and Datacenter editions<\/td><\/tr>
Who can use<\/strong><\/td>All customers through all channels<\/td>Software Assurance and cloud customers only<\/td><\/tr>
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Installation<\/strong><\/p>\n

options<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>

Server Core and Server with Desktop Experience<\/td>Server Core for container host and image and Nano Server container image<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

LTSC and Semi-Annual Channel carry an equal amount of importance to us. We will continue to listen to our customers and partners and build features and functionality in the two releases that fit the adoption pattern of our customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Windows Server, version 1803 \u2013 the next Semi-Annual Channel release<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We are excited to tell you that the next version in the Semi-Annual Channel, Windows Server, version 1803, will be available soon. The Semi-Annual Channel enables us to drive rapid innovation and evolution through the full operating system and software stack which is vital to the success of solutions like Docker, Kubernetes, and Service Fabric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below are a few features that we are excited about in Windows Server, version 1803. You may have already experienced these in the Windows Insider Program<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n