Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Support and Service for

Windows Server 2019 is the self-hosted release of Microsoft's flagship server operating system. Microsoft Windows Server 2019 includes the enhancements for Microsoft Windows Server 2016 previously offered only through the Semi-Annual Channel (SAC). Windows Server 2019 features significant improvements in scale, performance, management, security and compliance, app compatibility, Linux co-existence, Kubernetes networking, and hybrid integration of local and cloud assets.

Top new features of Windows Server 2019 include Windows Admin Center for centralizing the management of hybrid local/cloud-hosted deployments, System Insights for utilizing modern predictive analytics to manage local networks, Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection Exploit Guard for host-intrusion defense, container networking using Kubernetes, Cluster Sets for creating and administering large high-availability scale-out clusters, and Storage Migration Service for simplifying the migration from legacy versions of Windows Server.

Progent can help your organization to integrate Windows Server 2019 with current versions of Microsoft's key applications by providing expert services such as Microsoft Exchange Server support, SQL Server 2019 integration and development expertise, SQL Server 2017 upgrade support, SharePoint 2019 planning and deployment, and Microsoft 365 hybrid integration consulting. Progent's solution design, troubleshooting and training services for Microsoft Windows Server 2019 are offered remotely and Progent also provides onsite services in major metropolitan areas across the U.S. and Canada.

Hybrid Cloud Solutions with Microsoft Windows Server 2019
Windows Server 2019 makes Microsoft's Azure stack accessible to organizations of any size for creating on-premises data centers, private clouds, or hybrid systems that integrate on-prem resources with resources hosted on private and public clouds.

Most of modern companies manage a combination of local and cloud-hosted resources to get the right balance of flexibility, economy, throughput, availability, and security they require. In some fields, compliance regulations demand that specific types of resources and information be retained locally. In other instances, company policies or legacy applications necessitate mission-critical applications to be run from a local data center. Windows Server 2019 provides a cloud-friendly solution that permits you to build and administer powerful hybrid networks that seamlessly utilize resources spread across on-premises data centers and the cloud.

Designing, creating and administering optimized hybrid solutions with Windows Server 2019 calls for a broad array of skills. This is beyond the expertise of most in-house IT staffs maintained by smaller organizations. Progent's team of subject-matter experts gives you as-needed access to the skills you require for any aspect of hybrid network deployment and management. Progent's Microsoft-certified and Cisco-certified consultants, project managers, and cybersecurity professionals can help your business to determine the advantages of Windows Server 2019 for your organization and create a hybrid ecosystem based on Microsoft Windows Server 2019 that offers top business value.

A Good Moment to Migrate
The release of Windows Server 2019 was accompanied by the announcement of End-of-Support status for Microsoft's widely used Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 platforms. The result is that there will be no additional security updates onsite, no other enhancements, no free support programs, and no downloadable technical updates. Because of this, security will be more challenging, maintenance costs may increase, and network robustness may go down.

If your business could use expertise migrating to Windows Server 2019 from Windows Server 2008 or another legacy release of Windows Server, Progent can provide the skills to make your upgrade process smooth, economical, and fast. Progent can assist you to:

• Inventory your apps and server roles on your existing Windows Servers
• Migrate your virtual machines to the Progent Cloud or move to the latest version of on-premises Windows Server or to Azure
• Fine-tune your resources to reduce costs, manage resources, and enhance data security across hybrid applications

Windows Server 2019 has two installation alternatives: Server Core and Server with Desktop Experience. The Server Core option features a small footprint and no traditional desktop interface but supports all role-based workloads. This "headless" version is designed to be managed remotely, e.g. via the command line or Remote Server Administration Tools. The Server with Desktop Experience alternative is a full installation and features a rich GUI for local management. Progent's experts can help your organization to choose the versions and installation alternatives best suited to your environment, understand Microsoft's licensing requirements, and choose an optimal on-premises, cloud, or hybrid deployment architecture.

Top New Features of Windows Server 2019
Microsoft Windows Server 2019 features improved expandability, performance, manageability, Hyper-V virtualization, data security, hybrid deployment support, availability, container management, Linux support, and other major enhancements. Versions of Windows Server 2019 acquired under Microsoft's SAC model are updated twice a year, making enhancements available more quickly than under Microsoft's LTSC program.

Microsoft Windows Server 2019 delivers significant enhancements in scale vs. Microsoft Windows Server 2016:

Additional notable enhancements in Microsoft Windows Server 2019 are:

• Cluster Sets is a technology that supports orders of magnitude expansion in cluster nodes in a Software Defined Data Center by grouping numerous smaller Failover Clusters into a single large, uniformly managed fabric. Network managers can seamlessly move VMs throughout the Cluster Set fabric and control every facet of a Failover Cluster from initial deployment to decommissioning. Clusters included in a Cluster Set can benefit from additional storage and memory in a separate cluster without requiring that you purchase additional equipment. CPU and storage resources do not need to be identical, and resiliency matches or exceeds conventional Failover Clusters.
  
  Before Microsoft Windows Server 2019, large numbers of Hyper-V clusters for VMs were a hassle to manage and expand
  
  Microsoft Windows Server 2019 introduces Cluster Sets for unified control of failover clusters

• Storage Replica has been added to the Standard version of Windows Server 2019. Storage Replica provides advanced disaster recovery support and is described in Windows Server 2016 Storage Replica deployment. Novel capabilities of Storage Replica in Windows Server 2019 are a test failover option that allows managers to bring a destination volume online momentarily for verification and backup. In addition, you can now control Storage Replica with Microsoft Windows Admin Center, which provides a graphical tool for managing operations such as server-to-server and cluster-to-cluster replication.
• Storage Spaces Direct enhancements include deduplication and compression for Resilient File System volumes, integrated support for storage-class persistent memory, support for using a commodity flash drive as a witness with dual-server clusters, increased scale (up to 4 PB for each cluster), double the performance for mirror-accelerated parity volumes and storage tiers, outlier detection for disk latency, and improved availability by selectively delimiting volume allocation. Storage Spaces Direct features are described in Windows Storage Spaces Direct consulting.
• Storage Migration Service streamlines the task of migrating storage from older servers to volumes in newer versions of Windows Server or Azure. You can use Storage Migration Service to migrate to new physical devices or to VMs. The utility inventories Windows and Linux servers and their data; relocates files, shares, and policy configurations to their new hosts; and allows new servers to take over the identity of your source servers so that users and apps can access existing data without changing anything. Windows Admin Center's user interface can manage many simultaneous migration processes.
• Broader Linux support enables organizations to host Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise, and SUSE Enterprise Server on shielded VMs. Shielded Virtual Machines capability is described in Windows Server 2016 Shielded VMs consulting.
• Windows Admin Center is a new web-based app installed locally for managing servers, clusters, hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) running Storage Spaces Direct, Windows 10 computers, and Azure-hosted virtual machines. Windows Admin Center can be utilized to manage Windows Server 2012 and newer. Windows Admin Center is an "in-box" management tool and so can be utilized to manage servers on private networks disconnected from the public Internet. By publishing the Windows Admin Center gateway server to the public Internet, you can manage your servers securely from any location.
  
  
  Windows Admin Center allows you to administer on-prem and Azure cloud VMs from a single pane of glass

• Container networking with Kubernetes, the open-source management automation system for Docker containers, includes improved features such as being able to use embedded network security to guard Windows and Linux services. For a discussion of containers on Windows Server, refer to Microsoft Windows Server containers expertise.
• Duplicate Elimination and Data Compression for ReFS Volumes supports 10 times more data on a specified ReFS volume. Microsoft's ReFS file technology, first released in Microsoft Windows Server 2012, integrates RAM-level performance tiers for handling hot data along with HDD/SDD capacity tiers for scale and fault tolerance.
• Windows Defender ATP (Advanced Threat Protection) is included with Windows Server 2019 as a built-in capability requiring no special license and no agent software to install.
• Encrypted Networks is a new function that encrypts data traveling between virtual machines communicating within subnets that are designated as Encryption Enabled. Datagram Transport Layer Security on the virtual subnet blocks entities with access to the physical network from looking at, altering, or spoofing network data. Traffic between encrypted subnets is not encrypted.
• A USB Flash Drive connected to your router can be used as a witness in dual-server clusters under Storage Spaces Direct. With this low-cost, no-hassle solution, if a server fails and then returns to operation, the USB drive cluster can tell you which of the servers contains the more recent data.
  
  
  Microsoft Windows Server 2019 allows a USB Flash drive to act as a witness in two-server clusters

• LEDBAT automatically avoids network traffic jams by consuming bandwidth only when the network is being only moderately utilized. LEDBAT allows an organization to distribute massive, critical updates across an enterprise network without degrading the performance of mission-critical services.
• System Insights uses predictive analytics to simplify capacity planning. System Insights operates internally on every Windows Server 2019 instance and looks at performance counters and system events to predict capacity needs in key areas including utilization for volumes, storage capacity, processing, and network traffic volume.
• Windows Time Service supports the new time synchronization technique known as Precision Time Protocol (PTP) and delivers accurate time during a leap second. Microsoft Windows Server 2019 also offers software time-stamping and clock source stability. These features deliver greater accuracy and precision, allow compliance with UTC and other regulations such as Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and meet the requirements of special time-sensitive workloads. Because network setup is challenging to implement PTP, the older Network Time Protocol is still the default synchronization technique for Windows Server 2019.

Progent's cybersecurity consultants can assist you to adhere to leading practices to build an up-to-date security environment that is consistent across local and cloud assets as well as mobile end points. Progent can help you to configure proactive cybersecurity monitoring and management using an effective combination of security technologies from Microsoft and third-party vendors. Progent also offers cybersecurity assessments to verify that your IT environment complies with regulatory and industry information security mandates such as SOX, PCI DSS 3.2, and FedRAMP.

Progent's roster of Cisco-certified CCIE infrastructure consultants is among the largest of any independent IT services company in the U.S. Progent can assist you to design, configure and maintain a modern and cost-effective hybrid network architecture that delivers the state-of-the-art high-availability and disaster recovery technologies built into Windows Server 2019. Progent's disaster recovery planning consultants can help you create and verify an end-to-end strategy for rebounding quickly from any foreseen disaster.

To assist you to manage your Microsoft Windows Server 2019 and Hyper-V environment, Progent can provide a range of services such as Windows Admin Center deployment, PowerShell programming, System Center Virtual Machine Manager hybrid cloud management consulting, and System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) experts. Progent also has assembled the ProSight line of remote monitoring and management outsourcing services that give small and mid-size businesses an economical and efficient solution for network management.

Download the Datasheet for Progent's Windows Server 2019 Consulting Expertise
To see the datasheet about Progent's consulting services for Windows Server 2019, click:
Progent's consulting expertise for Windows Server 2019. (PDF - 319 KB)

Progent's Remote Consulting Support and Debugging Services
Progent has two decades of experience delivering fast, top-tier remote technical guidance and debugging support and has delivered remote support to clients in every state in the US and across Canada. (View Progent's Client Testimonials.) Progent also provides on-premises assistance in major U.S. metropolitan areas. Progent offers on-demand expertise to assist your company to resolve occasional IT problems or comprehensive project management outsourcing support.

If you are looking for urgent remote help from a Microsoft-certified consultant, visit Progent's Remote Support Services.

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