In a short amount of time, technology becomes old-fashioned and obsolete, and before you realize it, you’re using equipment that can be detrimental to your comapany. It is essential for everyone, businesses included, to stay current in today’s world when technology is changing everything. Hardware and software that are out of date might be quite harmful. As a result, businesses constantly compete to be the first to provide something new and to improve their services.
Microsoft, regarded as the leader in its sector, is one of those businesses. Microsoft Server regularly releases new versions, adds new features, and updates existing services. The most recent Windows Server 2022, an upgrade to Windows Server 2019, is one of those new editions.
What has changed between Server 2019 and Windows Server 2022, then? To assist you in understanding Server 2022, we’ll examine features and performance in this article.
An Overview of Windows Server 2022
The new Windows Server 2022 is Microsoft’s most safe, dependable and Azure-friendly server in twenty years. It is designed with the highest security standards to respond directly to the daily rising security risks and cyberattacks.
Additionally, Windows Server 2022 will support organizations of all sizes in securing their workloads, enabling hybrid cloud integration, and modernizing their applications to meet today’s IT requirements. Consequently, the new Windows Server promises additional security features.
The Three New Versions of Windows Server
Let’s look at the newly released Windows Server versions before examining the new security and other enhancements.
Microsoft announced the introduction of the Standard, Essential, and Data Center editions of Windows Server 2022, with the Azure Datacenter edition following later. Let’s examine the features each of these versions has.
The Standard
The Standard of Windows Server 2022 is the entry-level model, as the name suggests. This version only supports two virtual machines running on one Hyper-V host and has a single license. With one resource group and one partnership, there’s a Replica Storage space with a 2 TB capacity. The Standard version does not provide access to hot patching, storage, software-defined networking, or similar features.
The Essential
The Essential Edition is intended for more compact enterprises that employ up to 25 users and 50 devices. It lacks a dashboard, global access, client backup, and similar features. It works with CPUs that have up to 10 cores.
The Data Center
Advanced features such as protected VMs, which are absent from the Standard edition, are available in the Data Center version. This feature provides BitLocker disk encryption and encrypts the startup data and firmware of the virtual machine (VM).
Microsoft prioritizes data management and protection with this choice as it combines two essential factors: storage replication and software-defined storage are both characteristics of Storage Spaces Direct. Given how critical data management and protection are to businesses, this might be a vital component of a company’s infrastructure.
Block-level data replication is made possible via storage replication, which replicates open files without sacrificing data. Software-defined storage from Storage Spaces Direct, which supports up to 16 servers and one petabyte of cluster storage, makes scalability and management easier.
The Data Center Azure Edition
For Microsoft’s Azure platform, this version was created. It contains several unique features that are not present in the other editions. For example, with this version, you may access shared files via the network without a VPN, thanks to the Server Message Block over QUIC. You can also use the Hot Patch functionality to roll out updates without restarting the server.
The Azure Stack (HCI) Hyper-Converged Infrastructure operating system, which is well-known for its excellent performance, security, and innovative hybrid features, powers the virtual machines (VMs) used by the Data Center Azure Edition.
Windows Server 2022 vs. Windows Server 2019: How Do They Compare?
As we already indicated, Windows Server 2022 is promising, and you may consider upgrading from 2019 or older. A comparison of the two servers will help you make an informed decision. Let’s explore the new features in Server 2022 and improvements to help you make the decision.
Key Features of Windows Server 2022 Compared to 2019
You can use the tables below, which list the main distinctions between Windows Server 2022 and Windows Server 2019, to help decide which version will prevail in a contest.
1. Improved Security
|
|
Windows Server 2022 |
Windows Server 2019 |
|
Hypervisor-based code integrity |
Available |
Not available |
|
Hardware-enforced Stack Protection |
Available |
Not available |
|
Secured-Core Server |
Available |
Not available |
|
Transport Layer Security |
TLS 1.3 enabled by default |
TLS 1.2 supported |
2. New Windows Admin Center
|
|
Windows Server 2022 |
Windows Server 2019 |
| Automated extension lifecycle management |
Available |
Not available |
| Automatic Windows Admin Center updates |
Available |
Not available |
| Event Workspace for tracking data |
Available |
Not available |
| Configurable destination virtual switch |
Available |
Not available |
| Detachable Events Overview Screen |
Built-in |
Configurable |
|
Customizable Virtual Machine information columns |
Available |
Not available |
3. Better Platform Flexibility
|
|
Windows Server 2022 |
Windows Server 2019 |
|
Uncompressed image size |
About 2.7 GB in size |
Approximately 3.7 GB |
|
Virtualized time zone |
Configurable within container |
Mirrors host time zone |
|
Dynamic Source Routing |
Available |
Not available |
|
Domain Joining for Group Managed Service Accounts |
Available |
Not available |
4. Hybrid Cloud Support
|
|
Windows Server 2022 |
Windows Server 2019 |
|
Storage Migration Service |
Enhanced deployment and management |
Available |
|
Azure Arc |
1.3 enabled by default |
Available |
5. Upgraded Hyper-V Manager
|
|
Windows Server 2022 |
Windows Server 2019 |
|
Live Storage Migration |
Available |
Not available |
|
Action bar |
Available |
Not available |
|
Affinity and anti-affinity rules |
Available |
Not available |
|
Running workloads between servers |
Available |
Not available |
|
VM clones |
Available |
Not available |
|
New partitioning tool |
Available |
Not available |
6. Enhanced Kubernetes Experience
|
|
Windows Server 2022 |
Windows Server 2019 |
|
Multiple subnets |
Available |
Not available |
|
HostProcess containers |
Available |
Not available |
What has Changed in Windows Server 2022?
Azure hybrid capabilities, security features, and the application platform might be considered the three main aspects of Windows Server 2022.
1. Security
Although Microsoft added Advanced Threat Protection to Windows Server 2019, novel threats that pose elevated enterprise risks continue to surface. As a result, Microsoft added significant new security capabilities to Windows Server 2022, including firmware protection, hardware root-of-trust, and virtualization-based security.
Secured-Core Server, which uses Windows Defender System Guard and Trusted Platform Module 2.0 to defend the firmware, hardware, and operating system from threats, is at the heart of the Windows Server 2022 security concept. To increase security, the Secure Message Block network file-sharing protocol is currently encrypted by default.
Other enhancements include making hypervisor-protected code integrity the default setting and utilizing Windows Defender Credential Guard’s virtualization-based isolation technology to safeguard credentials and other sensitive assets that go through your networks. A client can conduct DNS (Domain Name System) lookups over HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure), eliminating interference with such lookups.
2. Azure Hybrid Features
The enhanced SMB runs the QUIC protocol rather than the conventional TCP (Transport Control Protocol) for Azure support, enabling customers to access file servers operating on Azure from any location—on-premises or on Azure—without the need for a VPN. Hotpatching, which upgrades Windows Server VMs without necessitating a reboot, and multi-cloud on-premises environments to Azure are now available thanks to Azure Arc.
3. Software Platform
SMB encrypts everything that passes through it, and to avoid performance lags, the data that runs through it is also compressed. You can also use the new Windows Admin Center to manage your server infrastructure, which is accessible through a web browser.
Feature Deprecation in Windows Server 2022
Everybody is aware that everything has an expiration date. The difference is that, in the case of technology, the end comes at the speed of light. Features lost their luster quickly after being brand new.
Among the features that came with Windows Server 2019 underwent this fate. Microsoft declared that some features would be removed with Windows Server 2022 because they are no longer necessary or significant in light of current technologies.
The following functionalities, present in Windows Server 2019 and prior Windows Server versions, have been deprecated by Microsoft with the introduction of Windows Server 2022, either entirely or partially:
• Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS): Microsoft ultimately decided to completely drop iSNS in favor of focusing on SMB. However, you could still add specific iSCSI targets or connect to already-running iSNS servers.
• Shielded VMs and Guarded Fabric: While support for this feature will continue, future development has been placed on hold as Azure Security Center and Azure Confidential Computing takes center stage.
• Using the CMD window to run sconfig.cmd: When logging into a server with Server Core installed, Sconfig is started automatically. Sconfig must be launched using PowerShell, which is now Server Core’s default shell if you need to do so.
• Using the Windows Deployment Services (WDS) boot.wim to deploy images: Despite the deprecation notice, WDS-dependent workflows will still be able to operate. Future versions of Windows Server and Windows 11 will prohibit WDS images. This is being done because there are now more effective and capable solutions for distributing Windows images.
Final Word
Now is a fantastic opportunity to upgrade to the most recent version of Microsoft Server if you’ve been considering it. Businesses will notably benefit from Windows Server 2022. Their present virtual environment is integrated into hybrid cloud models, allowing them to operate their organization on a more secure infrastructure. Their apps may be repurposed to handle expansion better. Your company will operate more efficiently and be prepared for emerging technologies.
Schedule a free consultation with NMS Group to see how we can handle your Windows Server needs.