What you need to know

• UPDATE: Microsoft recently announced that admins will get three additional years of Extended Security Updates (ESUs) for Windows Server 2012.
• Microsoft is ending support for Windows Server 2012 on October 10, 2023.
• Recommended next steps include transitioning to Windows Server 2022 or purchasing Extended Security Updates (ESUs) for Windows Server 2012.
• ESUs include three additional years of security updates, renewable annually until October 13, 2026.
• Admins that transition their databases and applications to Azure Virtual Machines will access free ESUs for three years after the end of the support date.

UPDATE NOV. 11, 2023: A couple of months ago, Microsoft announced that it would cut support for Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 on October 10, 2023. However, the company recently announced that admins can get three additional years of Extended Security Updates (ESUs).

According to Microsoft:

"You can now get three additional years of Extended Security Updates (ESUs) if you need more time to upgrade and modernize your Windows Server 2012, Windows Server R2, or Windows Embedded Server 2012 R2 on Azure. This also applies to Azure Stack HCI, Azure Stach Hub, and other Azure products. A new article provides details and step-by-step instructions to extending limited protection for up to three consecutive 12-month increments."

The company is now providing users ample time to transition to Windows Server 2022. Microsoft's Poornima Priyadarshini cited, "If you've already moved to Azure to protect your Windows Server 2012 and R2 workloads, you might be enjoying free Extended Security Updates. If your organization is unable to migrate, you can purchase and seamlessly deploy Windows Server 2012 Extended Security Updates enabled by Azure Arc on premises and in hosted environments without keys, directly from the Azure portal".

The original article continues below.

October is fast approaching, which will mark Microsoft ending its support for Windows Server 2012. This shouldn't be a surprise, as Microsoft had already issued a reminder at the beginning of this year. The statement explains that extended support for all Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 editions is set to end on October 10, 2023.

Windows Server 2012 ended its mainstream support date in 2018. Still, Microsoft decided to carry the date forward to provide users ample time to transition to supported Windows Server versions.

Microsoft will no longer provide security or non-security updates, bug fixes, technical support, or online technical content updates for these Windows Server versions after October 10. If you continue using these unsupported versions well beyond this point, you'll no longer receive technical support from Microsoft, which may have a negative impact on the stability of any outdated servers.

Windows Server 2008/R2 Extended Security Updates (ESUs) hit its end-of-support date earlier this year, on January 10, 2023.

Advice for server admins

Following this change, Microsoft recommends transitioning to Windows Server 2022 or purchasing Extended Security Updates (ESUs). This will help admins keep their on-premises Windows Server 2012 servers running and ensure that they continue receiving technical support. 

Those who follow the Extended Security Updates route will get three more years of security updates support, renewable every year until October 13, 2026. Alternatively, users can transition their databases and applications to Azure Virtual Machines. This will allow the admins to access free ESUs for three years after the end of the support date.

What you need to know

• Windows 11 preview build 22538 released on January 19, along with Windows Server preview build 22538.
• Windows Server preview build ISOs are available for those who want them.

Build 22538 of the Windows Server Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) Preview is here, as are the associated ISOs (18 languages are supported at present).

You can check out the specifics and details over on the Windows Server blog post. If you just want the goods and aren't in the mood to skim the post, here's what you need to know. These are the available downloads:

• Windows Server Long-Term Servicing Channel Preview in ISO format in 18 languages, and in VHDX format in English only.
• Microsoft Server Languages and Optional Features Preview

And here are the associated keys, which are only good for preview builds.

• Server Standard: MFY9F-XBN2F-TYFMP-CCV49-RMYVH
• Datacenter: 2KNJJ-33Y9H-2GXGX-KMQWH-G6H67

If you're looking for the page where you can download previews, it's right here. You'll need to be registered as an Insider for that download page to be accessible.

On the non-Windows Server side of the fence is the Windows 11 preview build 22538, which features voice access updates along with loads of fixes.

As for non-Insider updates to Windows, Microsoft recently remedied an issue January's Patch Tuesday caused wherein VPN connections were crippled. The initial cumulative updates, while packed full of useful security fixes that addressed various vulnerabilities throughout Windows, also borked some users' VPN capabilities, leaving those on SonicWall, WatchGuard, and Cisco Meraki (potentially in addition to others) in a tight spot. That's all in the rearview mirror now, meaning Windows, in all its various forms, is once again at peace. Now go get those Windows Server preview build ISOs.

What you need to know

• Microsoft has announced the Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate certification.
• It will be available starting in December 2021.
• Two exams will be required to earn the certification.

If you've been waiting for a new certification opportunity from Microsoft, your time is almost here. Starting in December 2021, Microsoft will make its Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate certification available to qualified individuals. You'll need to pass two exams to earn your status.

Said exams will be in beta when they kick off later this year, so not only can you earn your certification, but you can also help Microsoft's fine-tuning efforts.

Here's a piece of what the company has to say regarding its announcement: "This new certification validates the skills of administrators working in hybrid environments. Hybrid is the reality for many organizations that are building new cloud-native applications, while still supporting current on-premises applications, and Windows Server administrators help organizations successfully make the most of these environments."

If you're an expert in all things Windows Server and Azure, your chance to prove it is almost here. You can read up on all the details surrounding the Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate certification over at Microsoft's webpages, either at the dedicated certification details page or via the announcement blog post.

If you want the full scoop on what's going on in the world of Microsoft outside of the new certification opportunity it's offering, know that it's taking Azure to space via indestructible Nokia phones.

And, lest you forget, there's more to Windows than Windows Server. There's also Windows 11, which will be touching down on all OS-requirement-compliant computers starting October 5. If you need to upgrade your machine to meet the new Windows' requirements, consider checking out the best Windows laptops.

What you need to know

• Windows Server 2022 is now generally available across all distribution channels.
• It includes several capabilities and enhancements that improve security and help organizations modernize server environments.
• Windows Server 2022 began rolling out on August 18, 2021.

Windows Server 2022 is now generally available. It's the next on-premises version of Windows Server from Microsoft. This version will receive 10 years of extended support because it's a Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) release. It includes several features for security, containerization, and management.

Windows Server 2022 actually started rolling out on August 18, 2021. Arpan Shah, the general manager of Azure, told ZDNet that Microsoft waited until now to announce the general release to make sure that it was available through all distribution channels.

Windows Server 2022 utilizes multi-layer security with Secured-core server and secured connectivity. Similar to secured-core PCs, secured-core servers have hardware, firmware, and drivers to improve security.

Microsoft explains the benefits of this security setup in its blog post:

The latest version of Windows Server can connect with Azure Arc, allowing organizations to use cloud services with on-premise Windows Server 2022.

Windows Server 2022 supports up to 48TB of memory and 2,048 logical cores running on 64 physical sockets. Microsoft explains that this is enough to handle demanding Tier1 applications.

Microsoft highlights that in addition to Windows Server 2022, it's introduced Azure services and server enhancements for Windows Server. For example, Azure Automanage, which is in preview, lets IT professionals automate cloud practices and utilize the Microsoft cloud adoption framework. Customers can also modernize existing applications with Azure.

Mainstream support for Windows Server 2022 will last until October 13, 2026, and extended support will continue until October 14, 2031.

What you need to know

• Windows Server 2022 is here.
• It comes in three flavors: Standard, Datacenter, and Datacenter: Azure Edition.
• Its extended end date is October 14, 2031.

Windows Server 2022 is officially here, as of August 18, 2021. There are three variations of it: Standard, Datacenter, and Datacenter: Azure Edition. Its mainstream end date is October 13, 2026, and its extended end date is October 14, 2031. That's the news.

Those of you interested in said news likely already know full well what Windows Server is. But for those of you who've stumbled upon this article and don't know, here's how Microsoft describes its product:

Boiled down even further: It's an operating system for servers, as the name implies. On the off chance that news doesn't exactly get you bouncing out of your seat with intrigue and excitement, consider perusing other news that contains keywords such as "Windows" and "Azure." For example, did you know that Azure is helping the International Space Station since that thing only gets two hours of internet per week? The ISS is bound to the same internet rules as a kid with really strict parents; it's pretty wild stuff.

And if you want exciting Windows news, check out the latest scoops on Windows 11. The new OS has plenty of big things going on, such as a refreshed Clock app that'll completely overhaul how you focus yourself on work. Just kidding, it probably won't drastically alter your life, but its Focus Sessions feature will at least give you a helping hand with staying on task.

Windows Server 2019 testers can get their hands on a fresh new build today. Microsoft has shipped out build 17744, bringing along several Hyper-V improvements and new features. But while the new features and fixes may grab most of your attention, there's also a healthy list of known issues to be aware of.

What's new

• Installation no longer prompts for a product key. Microsoft Hyper-V Server is an enterprise hypervisor that is provided at no additional cost.
• Administrators are now properly prompted to change their passwords when initially signing in.
• Updated installation branding.
• Failover Clustering hardening. Failover Clustering no longer requires the use of NTLM.
• Server Message Block (SMB) hardening. SMB 1.0 is disabled by default.
• Windows Subsystem for Linux is built in.
• Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection is built in.
• .NET Framework 4.7 is built-in. (Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2016 included .NET Framework 4.6).
• Finally, Microsoft Hyper-V Server can be fully managed by Windows Admin Center to provide a modern, remote management solution that integrates with Azure Backup, disaster recovery, and more.

Known issues

• [NEW] After a system running Server Core is transitioned (transmogrified) to Server Datacenter–for example, by running the command dism /online /setedition:ServerDatacenterCor /ProductKey:product-key/AcceptEula–the operating system is not licensed. On an affected system, the administrator is not instructed to restart the system, and the operating system indicates that it is a retail channel version rather than a Generic Volume License Key (GVLK) version, even when the product key is a GVLK key. To make an affected system licensed, run the following command: cscript c:\Windows\System32\slmgr.vbs /ipkproduct-key.
• [NEW] The Italian language (it-IT) text of the End-User License Agreement (EULA) for Hyper-V Server is formatted incorrectly.
• The operating system has an unnecessary utility account for Windows Defender Application Guard.
• Authentication that uses Public Key Cryptography User-to-User (PKU2U) to access an SMB volume can result in an error, STATUS_LOGON_FAILURE, due to an invalid private key in the certificate for a cluster-created user account (CSUSR) on each cluster node. This issue can cause cross-cluster migration in cluster sets to fail, as well as possibly cause global namespace mappings to fail, leading to virtual machines being unable to access storage.
• The Base Filtering Engine service may consume an inordinate amount of memory after starting and stopping thousands of containers.
• The Virtual Hard Disk Miniport Driver (Vhdmp.sys) may experience a bug check, SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (7e).
• When a Windows Defender Application Guard container crashes, the resulting type of dump may be unexpected.
• On recent preview builds, database applications might not be able to initialize a database and fail with a stack overflow or insufficient privileges when the database is located on an SMB volume.
• Shielded VMs running Linux do not boot. The loader (LSVMLoad) waits for a passphrase for the boot partition.
• Creating or modifying environment variables by using setx fails on a system running in a Nano Container (that is, Nano Server as a container image). On an affected system, setx requires a specific path in the registry, HKCU\Environment\, to exist by default. You can work around this issue by changing where the variable is stored in the registry, or you can add the expected registry path before executing setx commands. To specify that the variable be set for system-wide use in HKLM rather than in HKCU, the default, add the /M switch to a setx command. To instead add the expected registry path, run reg add HKCU\Environment before executing setx commands.

Windows Server preview build 17744 is available to download now via Microsoft. The build is set to expire on December 14, 2018.

A fresh Windows Server 2019 Insider preview build is now available for testers to check out. The latest release moves the build number up to 17713, but there are no new features to dive into.

Instead, today's release comes alongside the launch of Windows Admin Center preview 1807. There are quite a few new bits and pieces included in this release. Here's a look at the highlights:

• July's release brings a new streamlined experience to connect your gateway to Azure, as well as a top customer request: The Virtual machine inventory page now supports multi-select so that you can perform actions on multiple VMs at once!
• Completely new functionality in this release consists of new file sharing functionality in the files tool, and Azure update management integration in the updates tool. These new features are described in detail below.
• You can now add, edit, and remove shares from the Files tool! Fine-tune access with the ability to add and remove users and groups, as well as control their permission level.
• We've added another way to easily leverage the power of Azure from your own environment with Azure Update Management integration in the Updates tool. Azure Update Management is a free service in Azure Automation that enables you to easily keep all the servers in your environment up to date, letting you manage and push updates from a single place, rather than on a per-server basis.

If you're interested in checking out either release, Windows Server 2019 build 17713 is available to download now from Microsoft. The build is set to expire on December 14, 2018. Meanwhile, Windows Admin Center preview 1807 is available from the "Additional Downloads" portion of the Windows Server Insider download site.

Microsoft has released another new Windows Server 2019 Insider preview build for testers to check out today. The latest release ticks the build number up to 17692 and comes with a couple of new features to test, along with a list of known issues.

What's new

Microsoft Hyper-V 2019 Preview

System Insights

Known issues

• [NEW] If a system is upgraded to a recent preview release, administrator credentials do not work. Administrator accounts are not accessible, and administrator credentials do not work for elevation of privilege. This issue affects systems that were running build 17655 or earlier before being upgraded.
• [NEW] Event Viewer (eventmgr.msc) becomes unresponsive when a user attempts to view the details of an event if App Compatibility, a Feature on Demand (FoD), is installed on the system. To recover, the process (Microsoft Management Console) must be terminated.
• Docker commands may fail when run on a Windows Server container. After a Docker command has failed on an affected system, subsequent Docker commands will also fail.
• Creating or modifying environment variables by using setx on a system running Nano Server fails. On an affected system, setx requires a specific path in the registry, HKCU\Environment\, to exist by default.
• The Virtual Machine Management Service (VMMS) may experience an error, APPLICATION_FAULT_INVALID_POINTER_READ, in Cluster Manager.
• A virtual machine that uses a Microsoft Virtual BIOS may fail to start and report an error: "Failed to restore with Error 'Indicates two revision levels are incompatible.' (0x8007051A)"
• Editing or creating policies for AppLocker can cause the MMC snap-in to crash when generated rules for a packaged app.

Updated June 19, 2018: For developers, Microsoft has also released Windows 10 SDK preview build 17692.

Windows Server 2019 build 17692 is available to download now directly from Microsoft. This build is set to expire on December 24, 2018. For more, check out Microsoft's full release notes.

Windows Server Insiders and developers are moving on up to build 17677 with Microsoft's latest preview releases.

Following the launch of Windows Insider build 17677 on the Fast ring last week, Microsoft is rolling out a new Windows Server Insider preview build and a matching SDK as well.

The latest Windows Server 2019 preview release ticks the build number up to 17677 and includes a few notable improvements. Here's a look at what's new:

Performance history for Storage Spaces Direct

In this build, the performance history feature of Storage Spaces Direct gets even better:

• The Get-ClusterPerf cmdlet now includes self-diagnosis logic: if the cmdlet finds nothing to report, it now looks for common issues that would prevent performance history from working properly (for example, if its storage is missing) so that the cmdlet can provide clear error text.
• New cmdlets, Start-ClusterPerformanceHistory and Stop-ClusterPerformanceHistory, that are provided in this build make it easy to remediate such issues by cleaning up and/or re-provisioning performance history.
• New series, provided in this build, record how much Storage Spaces Direct data needs to repair/resync per server.

Container Improvements

Windows Server 2019 preview build 17677 is available for download from Microsoft now.

Additionally, developers can now catch up with Windows 10 SDK preview build 17677. As with previous preview SDKs, 17677 can be installed alongside previous versions and works with Visual Studio 2017. If you're a developer, you can find a full list of known issues and API changes at Microsoft. If you want to dive right in, the latest preview SDK is available for download now.

Microsoft today is pushing out another new Windows Server 2019 Insider preview build for testers. Today's release pushes the build number up to 17650 and includes a number of new features.

Along with the new features, Microsoft is also asking testers to focus on two specific areas for feedback: In-place OS upgrades from Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2016, along with application compatibility.

Here's a look at what's new in the latest Windows Server 2019 Insider build:

Failover Clustering: File Share Witness

One of the witness options available for failover clustering, File Share Witness, has two new enhancements.

The first enhancement blocks the use of a Distributed File System (DFS) share as a location. Adding a File Share Witness (FSW) to a DFS share can cause stability issues for your cluster, and this configuration has never been supported. So, we added logic to detect if a share uses DFS, and if DFS is detected, Failover Cluster Manager blocks the creation of the witness and displays an error message about not being supported.

The second enhancement enables the use of an FSW for several scenarios that were previously not supported:

• Absent or extremely poor Internet access because of a remote location, preventing the use of a cloud witness.
• Lack of shared drives for a disk witness. This could be a Storage Spaces Direct hyperconverged configuration, a SQL Server Always On Availability Groups (AG), or an Exchange Database Availability Group (DAG), none of which use shared disks.
• Lack of a domain controller connection due to the cluster being behind a DMZ.
• A workgroup or cross-domain cluster for which there is no Active Directory cluster name object (CNO). Find out more about these enhancements in the following posts in Server & Management Blogs: Failover Cluster File Share Witness and DFS New File Share Witness Feature in Windows Server 2019

Failover clustering: Moving Clusters between domains

Moving a cluster from one domain to another has always been a daunting task because you must destroy the cluster to move it. Depending on the roles in the cluster, that role must also be removed and recreated. The following are two common scenarios:

• Company A purchases Company B and must move all servers to Company A's domain
• Main office builds a cluster and ships it to another location

We have added two new PowerShell commandlets to quickly take you from one domain to another without the need to destroy it. For more information about this new capability, see How to Switch a Failover Cluster to a New Domain in Server & Management blogs.

Storage Replica

Storage Replica (SR) was first released as a technology for Windows Server 2016 Datacenter Edition. SR enables synchronous and asynchronous block replication of volumes between servers or clusters for disaster recovery. SR also enables you to create stretch failover clusters that span two sites, with all nodes staying in sync.

Beginning with Windows Server 2019, responding to customer requests, we've added the following improvement to SR:

• Storage Replica Standard. SR is available on Windows Server 2019 Standard Edition, not just on Datacenter Edition. When installed on servers running Standard Edition, SR has the following limitations:
  • SR replicates a single volume instead of an unlimited number of volumes.
  • Volumes can have one partnership instead of an unlimited number of partners.
  • Volumes can have a size of up to 2 TB instead of an unlimited size.

Windows Server 2019 build 17650 is available to download direct from Microsoft and is set to expire on July 2, 2018. For more, check out Microsoft's full release notes for a list of known issues.

Windows Server 2019 will launch later this year and it's now available in preview, Microsoft announced today. Windows Server 2019 will be the next major release for long-term servicing channel (LTSC), building off of Windows Server 2016 with a specific focus on four key areas: Hybrid, Security, Application Platform, and Hyper-converged infrastructure.

In Windows Server 2019, customers will be able to take advantage of Microsoft's Project Honolulu to easily integrate Azure Backup, Azure File Sync, disaster recovery, and more, Microsoft says. In terms of security, Windows Server 2019 will also add Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), which can help to detect and prevent zero-day exploits and other attacks.

Further, Windows Server 2019 will also introduce the Windows Subsystem for Linux. This is already being tested with Insider builds for Windows server, but Windows Server 2019 will help Linux users "bring their scripts to Windows while using industry standards like OpenSSH, Curl & Tar." The release will also support Kubernetes. Microsoft also notes that System Center 2019 is coming and will support Windows Server 2019.

Microsoft says that Windows Server 2019 is expected to be released in the second half of 2018. For now, you can get an early look at some of what's coming with the first preview build, Windows Server vNext LTSC build 17623.

Hot on the heels the latest Windows 10 Fast ring build released late last week, developers can now get their hands on Windows 10 SDK Preview build 17095 to match. This is the second SDK preview build of February, coming nearly two weeks since the release of SDK Preview build 17083.

As with other recent SDK preview releases, there's not much to see here in the way of changes. The release notes contain the same C++/WinRT compiler and MIDL keywords that were present in previous releases. There are known issues, along with a workaround, to be aware of, however. From Microsoft:

Known Issues

• Cannot deploy to a device: When attempting to deploy to a mobile device, it fails with the following error: DEP0001: Unexpected Error: SmartDeviceException – Class not registered [0x80131500]

To work around this issue:

• Go to Administrative Command Prompt
• Run REGSVR32 "\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.17095.0\x86\SirepClient.dll"
• The following tools are not included with this release: Filtdump.exe
• JSConstraintDebug.exe
• Regwindmd.exe
• Topedit.exe

You can find a full list of API updates and additions in Microsoft's release notes. It's worth noting that this SDK preview build is only supported by Visual Studio 2017 and can be installed alongside previous SDKs. SDK Preview build 17095 can be downloaded from Microsoft now.

In addition to the new SDK, a fresh Windows Server Insider Preview release, build 17093, is available. There are no new features in this release, but there are a handful of known issues detailed in Microsoft's release notes. Here's a look:

• On builds 17088 and higher, after Server Core OS installation, the user is requested to set the password – when the user does so, an error message is presented "The remote procedure call failed". The install will still accept the password as expected.
• Upgrading a system to a preview build, starting with build 17088, may stall at 88% for 45 or more minutes before eventually being completed due to loading registry hives for each driver.
• When BitLocker is enabled and a system is started, the system prompts the user for the BitLocker PIN. Upon providing the correct PIN the first time, the system says the PIN is incorrect; however, if the user presses Enter a second time, the PIN is accepted.
• In‑place OS upgrade: BitLocker. Before performing an in-place OS upgrade, suspend (disable) BitLocker protection on any drives on the system. After the upgrade is complete, resume (re-enable) BitLocker protection.
• In-place OS upgrade: Domain Controllers. During an in-place OS upgrade, Active Directory (AD) Domain Controllers (DC) might not be upgraded correctly. Back up any AD DCs before performing an in-place OS upgrade.
• Using container images from Windows Insider Program on a Windows Server Core host will fail, and may crash the host. As a workaround, you can add isolation=hyperv when running or building the containers; for example: docker run -isolation=hyperv microsoft/nanoserver-insider.
• When Hypervisor Code Integrity (HVCI) is enabled, a system may fail to start. On affected systems, firmware locates UEFI runtime services in memory described as Memory-Mapped I/O (MMIO).
• Testing of the Windows core may fail because of a timeout while attempting to load the test libraries.

Windows Server Insider Preview build 17095 is available for download from Microsoft now.

Following up on a fresh build released last week, Microsoft has made another Windows Server Insider Preview build available. This latest release ticks the build number up to version 17079, bringing a handful of new features and known issues.

Here's a look at what's new in Windows Server Insider Preview build 17079:

• In-place OS Upgrade: Customers are now able to upgrade their Windows Server, version 1709 installations to the current preview build using In-place OS Upgrade. This feature is available starting in build 17079. This feature also enables customers to perform build-to-build upgrade of the next released preview build.
• Running setup.exe, customers should be presented with the option to "Keep personal files and apps", which causes the migration steps in setup.exe to run and upgrade Windows Server while preserving applications, data, and user settings.

Developers and Containers

• Optimized Server Core container base images (30% smaller). Available on Windows Insider Docker Hub here
• MSMQ now installs in a Server Core container
• Key Application Compatibility bug fixes

And here are the known issues in this release:

Known issues with Windows Server build 17079

• [NEW] When Hypervisor Code Integrity (HVCI) is enabled, a system may fail to start. On affected systems, firmware locates UEFI runtime services in memory described as Memory-Mapped I/O (MMIO).
• Running nanoserver-insider containers on a Windows Server Core host will fail, and may crash the host. As a workaround, you can add "—isolation=hyperv" when running or building the containers such as "docker run –isolation=hyperv microsoft/nanoserver-insider".

Known Issues with In-place OS Upgrade

• (1) Drives that are protected with BitLocker should have BitLocker suspended (disabled) before In-place OS Upgrade, and resumed (enabled) after In-place OS Upgrade.
• (2) AD Domain Controllers might not upgrade correctly – please backup any AD DC before applying In-place OS Upgrade.

Windows Server build 17079 is available for download from Microsoft, and it's expected to expire on July 2, 2018.

A new Windows Server Insider build is now available – the first to arrive since early December. Ticking the build number up to 17074, the latest release does away with the requirement to enter a product key during setup. Instead, the build is considered "pre-keyed," Microsoft says.

Here's a look at what's new in Windows Server Insider build 17074:

• Storage Spaces Direct (S2D)
  • In this preview build we continue to expand and simplify the hardware for Storage Spaces Direct. SCSI Enclosure Services (SES) is no longer required for Storage Spaces Direct to be compatible, this unlocks a breath of new hardware which was not capable of running S2D. Storage Spaces Direct now also supports Persistent Memory (aka. Storage Class Memory), this unlocks a new class of extremely low latency storage which is incredibly interesting in particular as a caching device. Storage Spaces Direct now also supports Direct-connect SATA devices to AHCI controller, again this will expand the hardware ecosystem compatible with S2D as well as unlock a new class of low cost hardware. In this preview we have also enabled the Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) Cache is enabled by default, which delivers an in-memory write-through cache that can dramatically boost VM performance.
• Failover Clustering
  • In this preview we have introduced enhancements to Azure enlightened Failover Clusters, with enhanced eventing on host maintenance events and nodes about to be in host maintenance are excluded from placement. By making high availability software running inside of an Azure IaaS VM be aware of maintenance events of the host, it can help deliver the highest levels of availability for your applications.
• Dedup support for ReFS and Storage Spaces Direct

There's also a single known issue to be aware of in this release:

• Testing of the Windows core may fail because of a timeout while attempting to load the test libraries.

Windows Server Insider build 17074 is available for download from Microsoft, and the build is set to expire on July 2, 2018.

In addition to the new Windows Server Insider build, Microsoft has also released a new version of the Windows 10 SDK preview. You can read up on what's new with Windows 10 SDK preview build 17069, or download the updated SDK directly from Microsoft now.

Microsoft today released the first Insider Preview build for Windows Server with build 16237. As originally announced back in May, when it was announced that Windows Server would join the Insider program, any Insider member can now download and test preview builds and check out features and fixes come down the pipeline.

Here's a look at what's new, according to the build 16237 release notes:

Persistent Memory can now be exposed to Hyper-V VMs:

• In this build, NTFS-formatted direct access volumes that are created on non-volatile DIMMs can now be exposed Hyper-V VMs. This enables Hyper-V VMs to leverage the low-latency performance benefits of Persistent Memory devices.
• Virtualized Persistent Memory (vPMEM) is enabled by creating a VHD file (.vhdpmem) on a direct access volume on a host, adding a vPMEM Controller to a VM, and adding the created device (.vhdpmem) to a VM. Using vhdpmem files on direct access volumes on a host to back vPMEM enables allocation flexibility and leverages a familiar management model for adding disks to VMs.
• PowerShell can be used for the creation and management of Virtualized Persistent Memory.

Battery Passthrough:

• With new additions to Set-VM, a PowerShell cmdlet, you can now enable and disable Battery Passthrough, a new feature. Battery Passthrough let your VMs have the same battery state as the host they are on. To use this feature of Set-VM, use the flag -BatteryPassthroughEnabled {$true, $false}. This option is only available for version 8.2 virtual machines.

Improvements to Container Networking:

• This build introduces enhancements to container networking to better support Kubernetes by adding support for multiple containers (w/out Hyper-V isolation) to a single Pod (Network Compartment) as well as only requiring a single endpoint per Pod for all traffic types (e.g. ingress and East-West)
• The Host Networking Service (HNS) now has support for creating ACL, NAT, and Load Balancing network policies for Container endpoints for fine-grained policy application.

RDMA for Trusted Guests:

• This build includes several enhancements for (Trusted) Guest RDMA to enable low-latency storage access with zero CPU usage by Trusted Guest VMs – this is ideal for running Windows File Servers in a Guest to accelerate file serving. Requires updated NIC drivers.

Improvements to Software Defined Networking:

• Encryption can be enabled for virtual network subnets to protect your traffic from anyone with physical access to the wire, including network administrators.
• Failover time for SDN gateways is improved. Now, you will observe much faster failover times for the gateways, even with high number of connections.
• Access control lists can be applied for infrastructure on logical subnets.

Improvements in Networking transports:

• 2X throughput improvement for single connection TCP and UDP performance in low latency intra-datacenter scenarios
• Default congestion control algorithm CUBIC for high speed networks

Improvements in HTTP(s):

• SSL throttling to enable predictable service for established connections, in the face of high incoming SSL traffic.
• Deterministic certificate updates for HTTPS enabling greater service availability.

Improvements in time accuracy:

• Pressing EU regulations in 2018 require strict time precision and traceability. Win32tm improvements in RS3 support greater time accuracy, and jitter is removed from the measurements that calibrate the service.
• New system event logging lets you archive time service data to support traceability compliance.
• System center monitoring now includes a new rule which lets you detect when a machine in your environment is out of compliance.

Nano Server optimized for Containers:

• Nano Server is now a container only option and optimized for containers, more information is available in the Delivering continuous innovation with Windows Server blog post. To optimize for containers, several features were removed that were in the Nano Server base image in Windows Server 2016, these include WMI, PowerShell, .NET Core, and the Servicing stack, which has significantly reduced the image size.

Server Core base image optimizations:

• The Windows Server Core base image has been optimized saving over 20% download and on disk space.

You'll have to manually download this build from Microsoft to get started, but any Insider can grab it. According to Microsoft, this particular build is set to expire on December 4. Do be aware that you'll need to use the following activation keys to get started as well:

• Server Datacenter Core: B69WH-PRNHK-BXVK3-P9XF7-XD84W
• Server Standard Core: V6N4W-86M3X-J77X3-JF6XW-D9PRV

For more, including the list of known issues, check out Microsoft's full release notes.

The Windows Insider program is expanding its confines once again, this time moving to include Windows Server. Microsoft announced on its TechNet blog (via OnMSFT) that frequent Windows Server build will become available to download for Windows Insiders willing to test them starting this summer.

From Microsoft:

This is the second big expansion for the Insider Program in recent months. In April, Microsoft first opened up its new Windows Insider Program for Business as a dedicated program to let IT administrators provide feedback without it getting lost in the noise of the entire Insider community.

Qualcomm and Microsoft announced today that they are extending their partnership to include a version of Windows Server built to run on ARM architecture. In particular, Microsoft has developed a version of Windows Server for internal use designed to work on Qualcomm's Qualcomm Centriq 2400 platform.

According to the announcement, Microsoft has been working on this for years. For right now, however, it sounds like this optimized version is only for use at Microsoft's own data centers. That said, Qualcomm promises this partnership will span "multiple future generations of hardware, software and systems."

Microsoft and Qualcomm have been cozying up quite a bit lately, only recently announcing a version of full Windows 10 for ARM is in the works. Built to work on Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 835 chip, this version of Windows 10 will be able to run x86 code code and apps on the ARM architecture, which is pretty impressive. That project is expected to arrive sometime later this year.

The team responsible for Windows Server will be moving to the company's Windows and Devices Group under Terry Myerson, bringing all versions of Windows under the same umbrella.

In addition to the Windows Server team, the Remote Desktop Services team will also be making the transition, though the heads of both products, Mike Neil and Brad Anderson, respectively, will remain in the Cloud and Enterprise division.

Speaking to Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet, a spokesperson outlined the objectives of the move:

Executive Vice President Scott Guthrie will remain as the head of the Cloud and Enterprise Group. A date for the transition has not been revealed.

Microsoft announced today their plans to release a stripped-down version of its Windows Server operating system titled, appropriately enough, Nano Server. The new OS has been made to run "born-in-the-cloud applications and containers."

Nano Server will take up 93% less space on a virtual hard drive compared to Windows Server, according to Microsoft. In their inital tests, Nano Server also had 92% fewer critical bulletins and reboots were cut down by 80%. The company added:

Microsoft is expected to launch the final version of Nano Server alongside the next major version of Windows Server, which should be available sometime in 2016. Preview versions of Windows Server 2016 and Nano Server should launch sometime later this year.

Source: Microsoft

While Microsoft is rumored to be getting out of the Windows RT business for its ARM-based Surface tablets, a new report claims that the company is currently working on a version of its Windows server software that would run on ARM-based processors.

The report comes from Bloomberg, which cites unnamed sources. It adds that Microsoft has not made a decision yet on if it will launch the ARM-based server software to the public. If the report is true, this could allow companies that use ARM-based chips to enter the server hardware market that's been dominated by machines that use Intel's chips. HP recently launched their Moonshot servers that have ARM-based chips from AMD.

While ARM tablets using Windows RT have not proven themselves to be popular to consumers, it's possible Microsoft could find a new enterprise and business audience for the operating system with servers. Do you think Microsoft should continue Windows RT development for servers?

Source: Bloomberg