Windows Server 2016 Datacenter Edition includes significant enhancements to Failover Clustering, a key technology that supports disaster recovery (DR) and high availability by allowing you to combine multiple servers to form a fault-tolerant cluster on physical hardware or in virtual machines. A major enhancement is Storage Replica, Microsoft's first native solution for zero-data-loss disaster recovery, Storage Replica allows organizations to configure separate sites within a metro area to mirror data with crash-consistent volumes in order to ensure full data recovery in the event of a site outage. Windows Server 2016 includes a number of other important new and enhanced features for Failover Clusters, offering significant benefits in areas including availability and fault tolerance, Hyper-V virtualization, storage and infrastructure costs, ease of deployment, manageability, security, scale, performance, hybrid cloud support, health monitoring and audit reporting.
Windows Server 2016 is a cloud-tested platform that takes technology proven in Microsoft's vast Azure public cloud, including Azure's software-defined data plane, and makes it available for on premises deployments. As hybrid networks have become the norm, the migration of cloud technology to private data centers has made enterprise-class disaster recovery solutions practical for organizations of virtually any size.
Progent's team of disaster recovery consultants and certified Windows Server experts have the knowledge and experience to help you plan, deploy, test, maintain and troubleshoot a disaster recovery solution based on Windows Server 2016 that aligns with your business goals and IT budget. Progent's information assurance experts can help you prove compliance with regulatory requirements for disaster recovery, and Progent's business continuity consultants can help you integrate your disaster recovery strategy into a broader plan to keep your business operating at an acceptable level in the event of a predictable widespread catastrophe. By showing you practical and affordable ways to deploy Windows Server 2016 to improve your Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO), Progent can help ensure that your investment in current disaster recovery and clustering technology adds maximum business value to your information network.
Windows Server 2016 Storage Replica
The headline disaster recovery feature of Windows Server 2016 is Storage Replica, Microsoft's first foray into zero-data-loss DR. Storage Replica allows you to mirror data between sites located within metro distances by using synchronous replication over a low-latency (5 ms or better round trip) TCP/IP or RDMA network using an SMB3 transport. If a protected site (also called a source or primary site) suffers a complete shutdown, you can switch quickly to the recovery site (also called destination or secondary site) without losing any data written to disk storage. Storage Replica can also be used for disaster avoidance, where users are seamlessly switched over to a recovery site in expectation of an imminent catastrophe such as a flood, wildfire or hurricane. For sites separated by longer distances or otherwise subject to higher latencies, Storage Replica supports an asynchronous replication mode that provides minimal data loss.
Storage Replica uses block-level replication between clusters or servers. This means that protected applications write data to at least two locations before the completion of any write operation. Because Storage Replica operates below the file level, it avoids the restrictions of technologies like DFS Replication, which requires that files be closed before replication and is subject to issues like files locks and open handles. Progent can help you upgrade from low-end disaster recovery solutions like DFS Replication to a zero-data-loss DR solution based on Windows Server 2016 Storage Replica.
For higher latency networks that span longer distances, Storage Replica supports asynchronous replication. Since Storage Replica asynchronous replication is continuous, not checkpoint based, the amount of data at risk of being lost is far lower than DR solutions based on snapshots. In addition, Storage Replica works at the partition layer, so it replicates all Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) snapshots, allowing application-consistent data snapshots for point-in-time recovery.

Topologies supported by Storage Replica include stretch clusters, cluster-to-cluster, and server-to-server. These configurations can run on physical hardware or VMs based on Hyper-V, VMware, Citrix XenServer, or other leading virtualization platforms. Stretch cluster configurations allow you to orchestrate and automate the failover process for workloads like Hyper-V private cloud clusters and SQL Server Failover Cluster Instance (FCI) and can be managed with Failover Cluster Manager. Storage Replica with stretched clusters can use Storage Spaces, SAN, iSCSI, and RAID through persistent reservation and can be run with two or more nodes.
The cluster-to-cluster configuration utilizes uses two distinct clusters and allows administrators to control the failover process manually. This topology is suited for environments where the secondary site set up solely for disaster recovery rather than as an active data center. With a cluster-to-cluster configuration, Storage Replica supports the cost-saving Storage Spaces feature of Windows Server 2016 and can be run with four or more nodes.
If your hardware does not support clustering, you can run Storage Replica in a server-to-server configuration. In this case the failover process must be performed manually. This can be a cost-effective DR solution between branch offices and data centers, and with asynchronous replication can support significantly better RPO than can be achieved with DFS Replication.
Progent can help you determine which Storage Replica topology makes the most sense for you business and can also help you plan, deploy, manage and troubleshoot your Storage Replica solution. For other zero-data-loss disaster recovery platforms supported by Progent, see VMware Site Recovery Manager consulting and NetApp MetroCluster disaster recovery consulting.
Additional Features of Windows Server 2016 for Failover Clustering
Important new and enhanced features of Windows Server 2016 include:
When you create volumes from the storage pool, Storage Spaces Direct automatically generates a virtual disk and takes care of partitioning, formatting, and adding it to your Failover Cluster so it can be accessed by any node as a CSV. These shared volumes can tolerate drive, server, or component failures with uninterrupted availability, and you can replace failed hardware without downtime or complex management intervention. Performance can exceed 150,000 mixed random IOPS per server thanks to an integrated read/write cache and support for NVMe drives mounted directly on the PCIe bus. Storage Spaces Direct automatically utilizes the fastest storage available, such as SSDs, for its always-on cache.

System Center 2016 Virtual Machine Manager supports two models for configuring and managing Storage Spaces Direct clusters. In a converged deployment, also called disaggregated, compute and storage resources run on different clusters. This provides administrators with the flexibility to scale compute resources independently from storage and is suitable for enterprises with larger environments and the skills to manage complex deployments. With a hyper-converged deployment model, Hyper-V compute and storage share the same cluster. This model, which minimizes hardware costs and is easier to configure and manage, is appropriate for smaller organizations or branch offices.
Health Service can automate workflows in the disk retirement/replacement cycle by reporting a failed disk, copying data from the retired disk to the remaining disks to restore full resiliency, indicating a failed disk by blinking its disk or slot indicator light, verifying a replacement disk against a Supported Components Document, and substituting the replacement disk into the storage pool previously occupied by the retired disk.
Cluster Operating System Rolling Upgrade utilizes a new mixed-OS mode that allows nodes with different host operating system versions to run within the same cluster. This allows you to pause, drain, evict, and reformat any node in the cluster, install Windows Server 2016 on the node, and bring the node back online. The Failover Cluster continues operating during this procedure as it would during any node outage. You can then use Failover Cluster Manager or PowerShell to add the upgraded node back into the cluster. All nodes operate at the older Windows Server 2012 R2 functional level until every node in the cluster has been upgraded. When all nodes have been migrated to Windows Server 2016, the entire cluster can be upgraded at once to the new functionality level with a single PowerShell cmdlet.

Progent can guide you through the Cluster Operating System Rolling Upgrade process following best practices, help you load balance the upgraded cluster, and show you how to take advantage of the new features provided by Windows Server 2016.


Progent's information assurance consultants can help you achieve and prove compliance with regulatory and industry data security requirement such as SOX, ISO 27001, PCI DSS 3.2 and FedRAMP by showing you how to configure the powerful new security tools available with Windows Server 2016 including Windows Containers, Shielded Virtual Machines, Credential Guard, Remote Credential Guard and Just In Time (JIT) Privileged Access Management. (For a description of these security enhancements, see Windows Server 2016 integration consulting.)
Progent's information assurance consultants can help you deploy new security feature like Windows and Hyper-V Containers, Shielded Virtual Machines, Credential Guard, Remote Credential Guard and Just In Time (JIT) Privileged Access Management to make it easier for you to comply with regulatory and industry data security requirement such as SOX, ISO 27001, PCI DSS 3.2, and FedRAMP. Progent's roster of Cisco CCIE-certified network infrastructure consultants is one of the largest of any independent IT services firm in the U.S., and Progent can help you design, deploy and manage a hybrid network ecosystem that fully delivers the high-availability and disaster recovery capabilities of Windows Server 2016. To streamline the management of your Windows Server 2016 Failover Clusters, Progent can provide expertise with PowerShell scripting, Failover Cluster Manager, Hyper-V Manager, System Center 2016 migration, System Center 2016 Operations Manager (SCOM 2016) integration and Virtual Machine Manager 2016 (VVM 2016) hybrid cloud management consulting.
To help you protect critical Microsoft workloads with Windows Server 2016's disaster recovery solutions, Progent offers services that include Exchange 2016 integration consulting, SQL Server 2016 consulting, and SharePoint development and integration. For hybrid environments that use public cloud services, Progent offers Office 365 Exchange Online consulting, Amazon AWS integration, and Google Cloud integration consulting.
Progent's Online Consulting and Troubleshooting Expertise
Progent is a pioneer in delivering online consulting and troubleshooting expertise and has provided remote solutions to organizations in every state in the U.S. (See Progent's Customer Testimonials.) Progent also offers onsite consulting services in major metropolitan areas across the United States and parts of Canada. Progent can provide as-needed guidance to help you resolve occasional technical issues or full project management outsourcing or co-sourcing services to make sure your Windows Server 2016 initiative is successfully completed on time and within budget.
If you need immediate online help from a Progent consultant, visit Progent's Online Technical Response Center.
Contact Progent for Windows Server 2016 Expertise
For more information about Progent's consulting and troubleshooting support for Windows Server 2016, call
Non-stop Technologies Provided by Progent's Consultants
Progent's certified engineers can assist you to implement a sensible, high-availability IT architecture that resolves key problems encompassing a wide range of networking solutions and operations including:
Workplace Recovery Planning
Progent's disaster recovery engineers can help you create a disaster recovery plan that will allow you to restore IT operations in case of an information system disaster. Progent can help you to define a complete disaster recovery strategy that includes periodic disaster recovery assessments and testing. Progent's Microsoft and Cisco-certified professionals can also help you build an affordable, zero-downtime system solution that addresses reliability issues involving a wide array of network technologies and procedures. For details, go to Business Continuity Consulting and Support Services.
CRISC-Premier IT Risk Control
The Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC) certification program was established by ISACA to validate an IT professional's ability to plan, deploy, and support information system controls to reduce network risk. Progent can provide the services of a CRISC-certified consultant to assist you to develop and execute a workplace continuity strategy based on industry best practices promoted by CRISC and crafted to align with your company's risk appetite, business goals, and IT budget. To read more, go to CRISC-Premier IT risk management experts.
Microsoft Windows Server 2019 High Availability Failover Clustering
Microsoft Windows Server 2019 introduced important enhancements in scale, performance, management, security and compliance, application compatibility, Linux co-existence, container networking, and hybrid integration of local and cloud resources. Top enhancements of Windows Server 2019 are Windows Admin Center for unifying the management and monitoring of hybrid local/cloud deployments, System Insights for taking advantage of advance predictive intelligence to manage local networks, Windows Defender ATP Exploit Guard for host-intrusion prevention, container orchestration with Kubernetes, Cluster Sets for creating and managing large non-stop scale-out clusters, and Microsoft's Storage Migration Service for simplifying the migration from outdated releases of Windows Server. For details, go to Microsoft Windows Server 2019 Fault-tolerant Failover Clustering Consulting.
VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) Disaster Recovery Solutions
VMware's Site Recovery Manager (SRM) is an extension to VMware vCenter that allows you to define, automate and test a repeatable workflow for restoring services quickly after an outage. Site Recovery Manager provides centrally managed and automated disaster recovery, application mobility, plus non-disruptive site relocation, failback and re-protect. SRM also allows transparent testing for disaster recovery, updates and fixes and can generate reports to confirm full service recovery, validate Service Level Agreements and demonstrate disaster recovery compliance. Progent can provide the skills of a VCDX certified VMware Site Recovery Manager consulting expert to assist your organization to design, configure, test and maintain a disaster recovery solution powered by VMware SRM.
NetApp MetroCluster High Availability and Disaster Recovery Technology
NetApp MetroCluster is a disaster recovery platform that uses failover storage clustering with replication to provide rapid, zero RPO disaster recovery between sites located as far as 185 miles (300km) apart. Progent offers online or on-premises access to a NetApp MetroCluster consultant who can help your business to plan, deploy, manage, upgrade, test and repair a disaster recovery solution built around NetApp MetroCluster. Progent can help you to select a topology for your MetroCluster environment that aligns with your functional requirements and budget. Progent can make sure you follow best practices for installing your MetroCluster environment by delivering guidance with tasks such as assigning disk pools, determining aggregate and plexes layout, setting up volumes, setting up NetApp Snapshot, installing switches, designing a tiebreaker mechanism, setting up a TCP/IP configuration replication network between your storage clusters, and verifying your MetroCluster disaster recovery system to show compliance with industry standards and regulatory mandates.
Network Load Balancing
Progent provides fault tolerant load balancing support that addresses system load balancing, load balanced programs, LAN/WAN backbone routing, and content delivery technology such as Cisco Content Engine. High availability load balancing technologies for which Progent can provide consulting expertise include Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and 2008 Network Load Balancing Manager, Citrix Metaframe and Access Gateway, Cisco CSS, Cisco Content Engine and LocalDirector 400 series, and F5 Networks 3-DNS. To read more, visit High Availability Load Balancing.
Non-stop Data Centers
Progent's Data Center engineers can help you identify fault-tolerant data centers that meet the specific requirements of your business. Fault tolerant colocation sites are especially appealing to small and mid-size companies due to of their affordability and convenience compared to taking a do-it-yourself strategy. Trying to create an on-site data center that offers even a minimum level of fault tolerance is financially prohibitive for the majority of small businesses. Progent can show you how to get all the benefits of non-stop Internet data centers by providing a full array of consulting and support services. For details, see Fault Tolerant Colocation Expertise.
24x7 Inter-office Connectivity
Progent's inter-site connection professionals can help businesses create non-stop multi-site connections by means of redundant system architectures with automatic failover. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE engineers can plan and implement high-availability Inter-office connections based on fault tolerant EIGRP network routers or fault tolerant OSPF configurations of Cisco routers. Progent can show you how multi-path connections and transparent fail-over offers affordable non-stop interoffice networking. For more information, see 24x7 Interoffice Networking.
Fault Tolerant Internet Connectivity
Progent's Cisco-certified IT experts can show you how to create an economical, fault tolerant Internet configuration solution that can achieve non-stop Internet access via a broad array of fault tolerant Internet network solutions including fault tolerant BGP, transparent fail-over, and multiple ISPs. Progent offers Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert engineers to show you how to apply the latest technology for 24x7 Internet access to implement an economical, completely redundant Internet interface with automatic failover and other features to deliver fault tolerant Internet access. For details, see 24x7 Internet Connectivity Solutions.
Backup and Restore Technology Consulting Experts
Progent offers affordable remote access to engineers skilled in a broad range of utilities and technologies that deliver solutions for protecting Microsoft Windows, Mac, and Linux servers and workstations as well as laptops and handhelds. Progent offers consulting support for leading data protection products such as Acronis, Backup Exec, BackupAssist, CrashPlan, Double-Take Software, Mozy, Retrospect, Time Machine, vSphere Data Protection, and Oracle Solaris FLARs. Progent can assist your company to design, upgrade, or maintain backup/restore solutions for a variety of architectures including on-premises, remote, cloud-based, or a mix. For details, see Backup and Restore Technology Consulting Services.
Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (SCDPM) Data Recovery Consulting and Support Services
Progent's certified System Center Data Protection Manager engineers can assist your company to create an effective disaster recovery strategy, implement a cost-effective high-availability IT architecture, install a System Center Data Protection Manager-based backup and recovery system, thoroughly validate your DPM system, train your administrative personnel or local consultants how to maintain Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager, or provide extensive IT outsourcing including remote housing of System Center Data Protection Manager servers in Progent's data center facility. For more information, go to System Center Data Protection Manager Expertise.
Barracuda Backup Cloud and Offsite Backup and Disaster Recovery
Barracuda Backup is an affordable, subscription backup and disaster recovery platform for small and mid-size businesses. A Barracuda Backup deployment can incorporate a purpose-built hardware storage device built by Barracuda or a virtual appliance with similar features but which uses your existing storage hardware. Barracuda Backup safeguards critical business data generated locally, at one or more remote sites, or in the cloud. For disaster recovery, you can replicate data to the Barracuda Cloud, to Amazon AWS, or to any site with a physical or virtual Barracuda Backup appliance. Progent is a certified Barracuda partner and Progent's Barracuda Backup consulting experts offer a wide array of consulting support services to assist your business to design, configure, operate and troubleshoot a backup and disaster recovery solution built on Barracuda technology. For details, see Barracuda Backup and disaster recovery consultants.
ProSight Altaro VM Backup Solutions for Data Protection and Disaster Recovery
Altaro VM Backup software offers small businesses a reliable and affordable platform for backing up and recovering Hyper-V and VMware-powered virtual machines (VMs). Altaro VM Backup can be used for local, remote, multi-site, and cloud-hosted environments and also enables cost-effective cloud backup to Azure storage. Altaro VM Backup supports high-end capabilities like Immutable Cloud Storage for enhanced recoverability from ransomware. Progent is a certified Hornetsecurity Altaro partner and offers a broad range of remote or onsite services to help you to design, deploy, manage and troubleshoot a modern backup/restore solution powered by Altaro VM Backup software. With ProSight Data Protection Services Altaro VM Backup, Progent delivers a fully managed backup/recovery service powered by on Altaro VM Backup. For details, go to Altaro VM Backup certified consultants.
ProSight Data Protection Services 365 Total Backup Solutions for Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 provides rudimentary archiving but does not include integrated support for crucial data protection services like Exchange Online backups or greater than 30-day point-in-time recovery for OneDrive or SharePoint Online. Hornetsecurity's 365 Total Backup provides a full-featured platform for automatic backup and rapid restoration of all your organization's M365 mail, Microsoft Teams Chats, SharePoint documents, OneDrive files, and content on Windows endpoints. Progent is an authorized Hornetsecurity/Altaro partner and has designed ProSight Data Protection Services 365 Total Backup to provide comprehensive managed services for Hornetsecurity's 365 Total Backup suite. ProSight DPS 365 Total Backup delivers an affordable backup-as-a-service alternative that defends M365 apps against data loss or corruption resulting from human or system mistakes, malicious deletion, and malware assaults such as ransomware. To find out more, see ProSight DPS 365 Total Backup solutions for Microsoft 365.
Managed Cloud Backup: ProSight Data Protection Services ECHO
ProSight Data Protection Services ECHO offer small and medium-sized organizations an affordable and fully managed service for reliable backup/disaster recovery. Available at a low monthly cost, ProSight DPS ECHO automates and monitors your backup activities and enable fast restoration of vital files, apps and VMs that have become lost or damaged due to hardware failures, software glitches, natural disasters, human error, or malicious attacks like ransomware. ProSight Data Protection Services ECHO can help you back up, recover and restore files, folders, applications, system images, as well as Hyper-V and VMware images. Critical data can be backed up on the cloud, to a local device, or mirrored to both. Progent's BDR specialists can deliver world-class expertise to configure ProSight Data Protection Services ECHO to to comply with government and industry regulatory standards such as HIPAA, FINRA, and PCI and, whenever needed, can assist you to restore your business-critical information. Read more about ProSight Data Protection Services ECHO managed backup and recovery.
ProSight MSP360 Backup Services
Progent can assist your company to design, implement and troubleshoot a backup solution based on MSP360 technology. MSP360 offers file/folder or image-based backup/recovery for virtual machines and physical computers, supports all popular public clouds, and allows you to create a data protection ecosystem with a low Recovery Time Objective and a granular RPO. With ProSight MSP360 Backup, Progent can provide comprehensive monitoring and remote management of your backup environment to protect against data loss caused by human miscues, system glitches, malicious insiders, and malware attacks such as ransomware. To read more, see ProSight MSP360 Backup solutions.
Consulting Services Double-Take Software for Backup and Recovery
Double-Take offers a selection of tools intended to deliver small and midsize businesses a range of cost-effective solutions for backing up and restoring business-critical workloads such as Microsoft Exchange Server, SQL, Blackberry, and Microsoft Office SharePoint. Progent's disaster recovery planning consultants have extensive experience integrating Double-Take Software technology into small business information networks to create an advanced level of fault tolerance and disaster recovery readiness at a budget-friendly price. For more information, visit Consulting Services Double-Take Software for Backup.
Why Pick Progent for Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Planning Solutions?
Since Progent is a Microsoft Certified AI Cloud Partner and provides professional application expertise for a wide range of business software programs, Progent is able to assist customers to arrive at comprehensive information technology solutions that maximize the business value of your network. As a Registered Partner with Cisco, Progent can provide the expertise of certified consultants and specialists with experience in designing, implementing and supporting networking solutions based on Cisco technology. The broad scope of Progent's technical experience and Progent's familiarity with the requirements of small and midsize companies make Progent the ideal resource for building and running a cost-effective, fault-tolerant network.