Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Support for

Windows Server 2019 is the perpetual-license version of Microsoft's server operating system. Microsoft Windows Server 2019 incorporates all the updates to Microsoft Windows Server 2016 previously offered exclusively via Microsoft's SAC program. Windows Server 2019 features significant enhancements in capacity, throughput, manageability, security and compliance, application compatibility, Linux co-existence, Kubernetes technology, and hybrid integration of on-premises and cloud assets.

Top enhancements of Microsoft Windows Server 2019 include Windows Admin Center for centralizing the management of hybrid local/cloud-hosted deployments, System Insights for utilizing advance predictive intelligence to control on-premises environments, Windows Defender ATP (Advanced Threat Protection) Exploit Guard for host-intrusion prevention, container networking with Kubernetes, Cluster Sets technology for building and managing large non-stop scale-out clusters, and Storage Migration Service for simplifying the upgrade process from outdated editions of Windows Server.

Progent can help your organization to configure Windows Server 2019 with the latest releases of Microsoft's popular apps by providing expert services such as Exchange Server expertise, SQL Server 2019 integration and development consulting, SQL Server 2017 upgrade services, Microsoft SharePoint 2019 planning and deployment, and Microsoft 365 integration expertise. Progent's solution design, debugging and training support for Windows Server 2019 are offered online and Progent also provides onsite services in major metropolitan areas across the United States and Canada.

Hybrid Cloud Integration with Windows Server 2019
Windows Server 2019 makes the Azure stack available to organizations of all sizes for creating on-premises data centers, private cloud solutions, or hybrid systems that integrate local resources with infrastructure and services hosted on the cloud.

Many of today's companies deploy a combination of local and cloud-hosted resources to get the appropriate balance of flexibility, affordability, throughput, reliability, and security they need. In some fields, regulations demand that certain classes of network resources and data be kept internally. In other instances, company policies or legacy applications require line-of-business software to be run locally. Windows Server 2019 offers a cloud-aware platform that permits you to build and manage powerful hybrid networks that transparently access resources spread across local facilities and the cloud.

Planning, configuring and managing optimized hybrid solutions with Microsoft Windows Server 2019 calls for a wide array of skills. This can be beyond the expertise of most IT groups in smaller businesses. Progent's team of subject-matter experts (SBEs) offers on-demand access to the knowledge you need for any aspect of hybrid network deployment and management. Progent's Microsoft-certified and Cisco-certified consultants, project managers, and information security specialists can help your business to assess the benefits of Microsoft Windows Server 2019 for your company and create a hybrid environment powered by Microsoft Windows Server 2019 that offers top business value.

A Good Moment to Upgrade
The release of Windows Server 2019 was accompanied by the announcement of End-of-Support (EOS) status for Microsoft's popular Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 platforms. The result is that there will be no more security patches onsite, no non-security enhancements, no free support programs, and no online technical updates. Because of this, security will be more difficult, maintenance costs may go up, and network robustness may suffer.

If your organization needs help migrating to Windows Server 2019 from WS 2008 or from any other out-of-date release of Microsoft Windows Server, Progent can provide the knowledge and experience to make your upgrade process smooth, economical, and fast. Progent can help you:

• Document your apps and server roles on your existing servers
• Move your virtual machines to the Private Progent Cloud or upgrade to the current release of on-premises Windows Server or to Microsoft Azure
• Fine-tune your configuration to minimize costs, manage resources, and strengthen data security across hybrid applications

Windows Server 2019 has two deployment alternatives: Server Core and Server with Desktop Experience. Server Core has a minimal footprint and no local interface but supports all role-based workloads. This "headless" mode must be managed remotely, e.g. via Power Shell or Windows Admin Center. The Server with Desktop Experience alternative is a full installation and includes a comprehensive graphical user interface for local management. Progent's experts can help you to select the editions and installation alternatives best suited to your situation, understand Microsoft's licensing requirements, and choose an efficient on-premises, cloud-based, or hybrid network architecture.

Top New Features of Windows Server 2019
Windows Server 2019 offers improved expandability, performance, administration, virtualization, data security, hybrid deployment support, availability, orchestration, Linux co-existence, and other important enhancements. Editions of Microsoft Windows Server 2019 licensed under the Semi-Annual Channel (SAC) release model are updated two times annually, and so make enhancements available more quickly than under Microsoft's Long-Term Servicing Channel model.

Windows Server 2019 delivers significant improvements in scale compared to Microsoft Windows Server 2016:

Other headline enhancements in Microsoft Windows Server 2019 include:

• Cluster Sets is a feature that allows orders of magnitude expansion in cluster nodes in a Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) by combining numerous smaller Failover Clusters into one large, uniformly controlled interconnected topology. You can transparently migrate VMs throughout the Cluster Set fabric and manage all aspects of a Failover Cluster from initial deployment to decommissioning. Clusters joined in a Cluster Set can benefit from additional storage and RAM in another cluster without requiring you to purchase more hardware. Compute and storage resources do not need to be the same, and resiliency is as good or better than with conventional Failover Clusters.
  
  Prior to Microsoft Windows Server 2019, large numbers of Hyper-V clusters for virtual machines were difficult to manage and expand
  
  Windows Server 2019 features Cluster Sets for unified management of failover clusters

• Storage Replica is now part of the Standard version of Windows Server 2019. Storage Replica offers advanced disaster recovery support and is discussed in Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Storage Replica expertise. New features of Storage Replica include a test failover option that allows managers to put a destination volume online temporally for testing and backup. In addition, you can now control Storage Replica with the new Windows Admin Center, which provides a GUI utility for managing operations such as server-to-server and stretch cluster replication.
• Storage Spaces Direct enhancements include duplicate elimination and compression for Resilient File System volumes, integrated support for persistent memory (PMem), the ability to use a low-cost flash drive to act as a witness with dual-server clusters, increased expandability (as high as 4 PB per cluster), twice the performance for mirror-accelerated parity, outlier detection for physical disk latency, and the ability to increase availability by manually delimiting volume allocation. Microsoft's Storage Spaces Direct features are described in Windows Storage Spaces Direct deployment experts.
• Storage Migration Service simplifies the task of moving storage from legacy servers to newer releases of Windows Server or Azure. You can deploy Storage Migration Service to migrate to new hardware or to VMs. The utility inventories multiple servers and their data; moves files, shares, and security settings to their new hosts; and permits new hosts to assume the identity of the source servers so your users and apps can have access to their data without making any changes. Windows Admin Center's user interface can manage multiple simultaneous migration processes.
• Broader Linux support allows organizations to run Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and SUSE Enterprise Server within shielded virtual machines. Shielded VMs capability is described in Windows Server 2016 Shielded Virtual Machines consulting.
• Windows Admin Center is a new web-based app installed locally for controlling servers, clusters, HCI infrastructure with Storage Spaces Direct, Windows 10 computers, and Azure-hosted VMs. Windows Admin Center can be used to manage Windows Server 2012 and newer. Windows Admin Center is an "in-box" management tool and so can be used to manage servers on private networks not connected to the public Internet. By posting the Windows Admin Center gateway server to the public Internet, you can manage your servers securely from anywhere.
  
  
  Microsoft Windows Admin Center permits you to manage on-premises and Azure cloud virtual machines from a single pane of glass

• Container networking with Kubernetes, the popular management automation system for Docker containers, offers improved capability like the ability to utilize embedded network security to guard both Windows and Linux services. For a discussion of containers on Windows Server, see Microsoft Windows Server containers consulting.
• Duplicate Elimination and Compression for ReFS Volumes supports 10 times more data on a given Resilient File System (ReFS) volume. The ReFS file technology, first released in Windows Server 2012, integrates RAM-level high-performance tiers for hot data along with HDD/SDD capacity tiers for scale and resilience.
• Windows Defender ATP (Advanced Threat Protection) is included with Microsoft Windows Server 2019 as an integrated feature requiring no special activation fee and no agent software to install.
• Encrypted Networks is a new function that encrypts data traveling between virtual machines communicating inside subnets set to be Encryption Enabled. DTLS on the virtual subnet prevents entities with access to the physical network from looking at, modifying, or faking network data. Data traveling between encrypted subnets is not encrypted.
• A USB Flash Drive plugged into your router can be assigned as a witness in two-server clusters under Storage Spaces Direct. With this affordable, easy-to-configure solution, if a server fails and then recovers, the USB drive cluster can let you know which of the servers in the cluster has the more recent data.
  
  
  Microsoft Windows Server 2019 permits a USB Flash drive to act as a witness in two-server clusters

• LEDBAT automatically avoids network traffic jams by taking up bandwidth only when the network is being sparingly utilized. LEDBAT enables you to distribute large, important updates throughout a corporate network without impacting the responsiveness of mission-critical applications.
• System Insights uses advanced analytics and machine learning to improve capacity planning. System Insights operates locally on every Windows Server 2019 instance and analyses performance stats and events to forecast capacity requirements in key areas including usage for volumes, storage capacity, CPU, and network traffic volume.
• Windows Time Service works with the modern time synchronization technique known as Precision Time Protocol and delivers accurate time during a leap second. Windows Server 2019 also offers time traceability and clock source stability. These features provide improved accuracy and precision, allow compliance with UTC and other standards like as Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and meet the requirements of various time-sensitive applications. Because network configuration demands care to implement the PTP protocol, NTP remains the default time synchronization method for Windows Server 2019.

Progent's cybersecurity experts can assist your company to follow leading practices to build a modern information security environment that is seamless across on-premises and cloud-based assets and mobile devices. Progent can help you to configure 24x7 remote data security monitoring and management using an optimal combination of security tools and services from Microsoft as well as other leading providers. Progent also offers security audits to ensure that your network complies with government and industry information security mandates such as SOX, ISO 27001, and PCI DSS 3.2.

Progent's roster of Cisco CCIE network infrastructure consultants is among the largest of any independent IT support company in the U.S. Progent can help you to plan, configure and manage a modern and affordable hybrid network infrastructure that delivers the latest high-availability and disaster recovery technologies built into Windows Server 2019. Progent's disaster recovery and business continuity planning consultants can assist you create and test an end-to-end process for recovering rapidly from any anticipated catastrophe.

To assist your organization to support your Windows Server 2019 and Windows Hyper-V virtualized environment, Progent can provide a range of expertise such as Windows Admin Center consulting, PowerShell scripting, SC Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) hybrid cloud management expertise, and System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) experts. Progent also has assembled the ProSight line of remote monitoring and management outsourcing services that provide small and mid-size businesses an affordable and effective solution for network management.

Progent's Online Consulting and Debugging Services
Progent has 20 years of background providing rapid, top-tier online technical guidance and debugging support and has delivered online expertise to businesses in every state in the United States and across Canada. (See Progent's Client Testimonials.) Progent also offers on-premises assistance in major U.S. metropolitan areas. Progent offers as-needed support to assist your organization to resolve occasional technical issues or end-to-end project management outsourcing support.

If you need urgent online technical support from a Microsoft-certified consultant, see Progent's Online Technical Support.

Contact Progent for Help with Microsoft Windows Server 2019
To find out more about Progent's consulting and debugging services for Windows Server 2019, call 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.