Windows Server is the enterprise software that provides centralized management tools for a company’s infrastructure. It also includes innovations in application platform and security and hybrid cloud capabilities. The Microsoft Server Standard 2019 16-core license includes DirectAccess and Always On VPN features that connect remote laptops back to your company network. It also has a suite of advanced threat protection technologies, including Windows Defender ATP, to thwart attacks on your systems and data.
Performance
Microsoft has shifted to a gradual upgrade schedule with the introduction of Windows Server 2019. As a Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) release, this operating system offers various innovations that could significantly impact your organization. Among the most important is improved security. The new version includes a Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection security feature, which assesses common vectors and alerts about potential attacks. This prevents unauthorized access and reduces the risk of data breaches. Another improvement is in the area of storage. This update allows you to benefit from a re-architected file system known as ReFS, which provides a much faster and more efficient way of storing data. The file system can deduplicate and compress information, reducing the space needed for storage. You can use this file system for on-premises and hybrid environments.
In addition to improving performance, it supports a wide range of business applications and is more reliable than previous versions. Another helpful feature is migrating data with a USB thumb drive. This allows you to perform two-node hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) deployments on a single machine without extra dependencies.
Security
Security is a significant concern for many businesses today. From high-profile breaches to data leaks, it’s a hot topic on the minds of IT professionals and C-level executives. Thankfully, Microsoft is making great strides in security with every new version of Windows Server. Windows Server 2019 is no exception. It includes several features to help secure your environment and quickly detect attacks. For example, you can now integrate a malware detection system into the operating system. This is called Windows Defender ATP, and it assesses common vectors used in attacks, including email, network transport, and data storage. The system can also detect anomalous behavior that may indicate an advanced persistent threat (APT) attack in progress.
Using shielded VMs to protect your virtual machines from unauthorized access and malicious attacks is also possible. Another way to improve security in Windows Server is to eliminate privileged accounts. When you use an administrator account, you expose your system to exploitation if a flaw is introduced in the program running on that account. With Windows Server 2019, you can make it harder for attackers to compromise your system by using a specialized account that restricts the actions it can perform.
Scalability
Windows Server 2019 offers many features for organizations that want to scale their IT infrastructure. For instance, connecting mobile workers to your corporate network is easy with the DirectAccess feature. And you can use Hyper-V to streamline virtual machine deployment and performance. You can also take advantage of the storage enhancements in Windows Server 2019, such as lower latency on persistent memory for VMs and increased capacity on disk using data deduplication.
In addition, you can get more from your hardware with System Insights, which delivers native predictive analytics capabilities backed by machine learning to identify issues before they affect production workloads. You can also improve data management with HCI, which combines computing, storage, and networking in one software-defined platform. This enables IT to quickly deploy and expand resources without adding servers or investing in new hardware. With Windows Server 2019’s robust security advancements, you can feel confident that your company is protected. The OS’s advanced threat protection (ATP) assesses common vectors for attacks, identifies malicious activity, and responds in real-time. For example, if a worker unintentionally opens a suspicious email attachment that contains malware, ATP recognizes it, isolates the affected machine, and immediately alerts IT staff.
Hybrid
Microsoft is putting a lot of emphasis on hybrid features in Windows Server 2019, especially as more companies adopt hybrid cloud deployments. These features improve connections between on-premises servers and those in the cloud. The operating system offers new container improvements to increase application compatibility and performance. There are also new improvements in the storage area that make it easier to migrate data between servers. This includes a new Storage Migration Service designed to help organizations move from older physical hardware to a more efficient and scalable virtual environment. A new Storage Space Direct feature also allows for faster transfers between disks. In addition, many new features are aimed at making the operating system easier to manage and more integrated with other software tools. This includes new enhancements in the Windows Admin Center that remove some of the complexity and multiple fiefdoms of administration found in previous versions.
Storage
One of the fundamental changes to the platform is a gradual upgrade schedule for servers. Instead of having to update the entire operating system at once, users can install upgrades in small increments with a Semi-Annual Channel release. This approach makes it much easier for IT teams to keep servers up to date. With this release, Microsoft improved Storage Spaces Direct, and you can now scale up to 4 petabytes per cluster. The feature can handle more reads/writes, offering higher performance and stability.
The company also expanded the number of available encryption options, and now it’s possible to use shielded VMs to protect sensitive tasks. Other new features include an enhanced graphical experience in Windows Admin Center for managing Storage Spaces Direct and the ability to create, expand, and delete SSD/HDD volumes with a few clicks. In addition, a purpose-built dashboard and experience allow you to monitor storage performance like IOPS and latency from the overall cluster down to the individual drive.
