Description
Why Windows Server 2019 Standard?
The new Windows Server 2019 Standard is the further development of the popular Windows Server 2016 operating system. It is suitable for most infrastructure scenarios and also for workloads such as Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft SharePoint. Beyond the security standards of Windows Server 2016, efficient threat protection features are provided. For example, virtual machines (VMs) have been enhanced to protect sensitive applications. Linux VMs are now also supported. Administrators can also easily encrypt network segments between servers. A new feature introduced is Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP). This provides proactive protection against attacks and zero-day exploits in Windows Server 2019 Standard. It also allows the entire security lifecycle to be managed centrally.
Highly functional server management tool
The 2019 version of Windows Server makes hybrid cloud scenarios possible. It is based on Project Honolulu, which was introduced in 2017. Existing Windows Server environments can be easily connected to the new cloud services. Users can thus easily integrate Azure Backup, Disaster Recovery, Azure File Sync and other Microsoft services into existing infrastructures and applications. Project Honolulu software was officially unveiled at the same time as the release of Windows Server 2019. This server management tool is a central interface to manage servers running – with or without a GUI – on Windows 2019, 2016 or 2012R2. Typical tasks such as performance monitoring or server configuration become easier as they are designed differently in Project Honolulu. Managing Windows Services in mixed-server architectures has also been simplified.
Smaller containers and HCI infrastructures
Windows Server 2019 Standard provides more support than before for developers to modernize existing applications when they work with container technologies. The operating system’s Server Core base container images are used for this purpose. Images can be shrunk to a third of their current size. This also reduces the download time by about 72 percent. There is also support for the open-source Kubernetes container system. Hyperconverged infrastructures (HCI) are already known from Windows Server 2016 and the Windows Server Software Defined program. Preconfigured HCI solutions are also useful in Windows Server 2019. They help meet compute and storage needs and are easy to deploy and scale. They can also be managed through Project Honolulu, greatly simplifying day-to-day HCI deployments.
Windows Server 2019 extends performance and reliability
It also becomes possible to use it as a remote desktop session host (RDSH). This allows Windows-based programs or the entire desktop to be shared among users when running on the host. The new storage management functions are also interesting. Storage Migration Services (SMS) makes it possible to upgrade old file servers in particular to the 2019 version. Data, access rights and settings are transferred in the process. Storage migration transfers the identity of the old server to a new one, allowing the previous machine to be off the network. The necessary tool is included in the Honolulu tools. Windows Server 2019 Standard also offers the Storage Replica feature. It was already included in the Datacenter Edition of Windows Server 2016 and is used for block-based replication of volumes between servers and clusters. Windows Server 2019 also comes with a graphical user interface, which some users missed in the 2016 version.
