Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Consulting for

Microsoft Windows Server 2019 is the on-premises version of Microsoft's server OS. Microsoft Windows Server 2019 incorporates the updates for Microsoft Windows Server 2016 formerly offered exclusively through Microsoft's Semi-Annual Channel. Microsoft Windows Server 2019 offers significant enhancements in scale, throughput, manageability, cybersecurity, application compatibility, Linux support, Kubernetes networking, and hybrid combinations of on-premises and cloud resources.

Top enhancements of Windows Server 2019 are Windows Admin Center for centralizing the management of hybrid local/cloud-hosted deployments, System Insights for taking advantage of modern predictive intelligence to manage on-premises environments, Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection Exploit Guard for host-intrusion prevention, container networking with Kubernetes, Cluster Sets technology for building and managing massive non-stop scale-out clusters, and Microsoft's Storage Migration Service for simplifying the upgrade process from legacy versions of Windows Server.

Progent can help you to integrate Microsoft Windows Server 2019 with current releases of Microsoft's popular applications by providing expert services such as Exchange Server consulting, SQL Server 2019 integration expertise, SQL Server 2017 upgrade support, Microsoft SharePoint 2019 planning and integration, and Microsoft 365 integration expertise. Progent's consulting, debugging and education services for Microsoft Windows Server 2019 are offered online and Progent also offers on-premises services in major metropolitan areas throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Hybrid Cloud Integration with Microsoft Windows Server 2019
Windows Server 2019 makes the Azure stack accessible to organizations of any size for building onsite data centers, private clouds, or hybrid systems that combine local IT assets with resources hosted on the cloud.

Many of today's businesses deploy a combination of on-premises and cloud-hosted IT assets to get the appropriate trade-off of flexibility, economy, throughput, reliability, and security/compliance they need. In some fields, compliance regulations demand that specific types of resources and data be kept internally. In other instances, corporate policies or legacy applications necessitate line-of-business applications to be hosted locally. Microsoft Windows Server 2019 provides a cloud-friendly solution that allows you to build and manage productive hybrid networks that seamlessly access resources distributed across on-premises data centers and the cloud.

Planning, building and administering optimized hybrid solutions with Windows Server 2019 calls for a wide range of skills. This can be beyond the expertise of most in-house IT groups in smaller organizations. Progent's roster of subject-matter experts (SMEs) gives you as-needed access to the knowledge you need for any aspect of hybrid network implementation and management. Progent's Microsoft Gold-certified and Cisco-certified consulting experts, project managers, and cybersecurity professionals can help you to assess the benefits of Windows Server 2019 for your company and create a hybrid environment based on Microsoft Windows Server 2019 that delivers top return on investment.

The Right Time to Migrate
The release of Windows Server 2019 was accompanied by the announcement of End-of-Support status for Microsoft's popular Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 products. The result is that there will be no additional security fixes onsite, no other updates, no free support programs, and no downloadable technical content updates. Because of this, security will be increasingly difficult, support costs may go up, and network robustness may go down.

If your business needs expertise moving up to Windows Server 2019 from WS 2008 or any other out-of-date release of Microsoft Windows Server, Progent can provide the skills to make your migration efficient, affordable, and on-schedule. Progent can help you:

• Document your applications and server roles running on your existing servers
• Move your virtual machines to the Progent Cloud or move to the latest release of self-hosted Windows Server or to Azure
• Fine-tune your configuration to reduce spend, manage resources, and strengthen security and compliance across hybrid workloads

Windows Server 2019 has two deployment options: Server Core and Server with Desktop Experience. The Server Core option has a minimal attack surface and no traditional desktop interface but handles all role-based workloads. This so-called "headless" version must be managed remotely, for example via Power Shell or RSAT. Server with Desktop Experience option is a full installation and features a comprehensive GUI for local management. Progent's experts can help your company to determine the editions and deployment alternatives most appropriate for your environment, comprehend Microsoft's licensing rules, and choose an efficient on-premises, cloud-based, or hybrid deployment model.

Top New Features of Windows Server 2019
Windows Server 2019 features improved scale, throughput, manageability, Hyper-V virtualization, cybersecurity, hybrid networking, availability, orchestration, Linux compatibility, and other important improvements. Editions of Windows Server 2019 acquired under the Semi-Annual Channel model are updated twice annually, and so make enhancements available much sooner than under the LTSC model.

Windows Server 2019 offers significant improvements in scale vs. Windows Server 2016:

Additional notable enhancements in Microsoft Windows Server 2019 are:

• Cluster Sets is a feature that supports orders of magnitude expansion in cluster nodes in a Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) by combining multiple smaller Failover Clusters into one massive, centrally managed interconnected topology. Network managers can transparently migrate virtual machines throughout the Cluster Set fabric and control every aspect of a Failover Cluster from initial deployment to retirement. Clusters included in a Cluster Set can benefit from added storage and RAM in another cluster without requiring you to purchase additional hardware. CPU and storage resources do not have to be identical, and resiliency is as good or better than with ordinary Failover Clusters.
  
  Before Windows Server 2019, large numbers of Hyper-V clusters for VMs were cumbersome to manage and expand
  
  Microsoft Windows Server 2019 introduces Cluster Sets for centralized management of failover clusters

• Storage Replica is now part of the Standard version of Microsoft Windows Server 2019. Storage Replica provides next-generation disaster recovery support and is described in Windows Server 2016 Storage Replica deployment. Novel features of Storage Replica in Windows Server 2019 are a test failover function that allows managers to bring a destination volume online temporally for testing and backup. Also, administrators can now manage Storage Replica with Microsoft Windows Admin Center, which offers a graphical tool for controlling processes such as cluster-to-cluster and stretch cluster replication.
• Storage Spaces Direct improvements include deduplication and compression for Resilient File System volumes, native support for persistent memory (PMem), the ability to use a commodity flash drive to act as a witness with dual-server clusters, greater expandability (as high as 4 PB per cluster), twice the throughput for mirror-accelerated parity volumes, outlier detection for drive latency, and improved fault tolerance by selectively delimiting volume allocation. Windows Server's Storage Spaces Direct technology is discussed in Microsoft Windows Storage Spaces Direct deployment experts.
• Storage Migration Service streamlines the task of migrating storage from older servers to volumes in current releases of Windows Server or Azure. You can deploy Storage Migration Service to migrate to new hardware or to VMs. The utility inventories servers and their data; copies files, shares, and policy settings to their intended hosts; and permits new servers to take over the identity of your legacy servers so that users and applications can have access to their data without making any changes. Windows Admin Center's GUI can manage multiple concurrent migrations.
• Expanded Linux support enables you to run Ubuntu Linux, Red Hat Enterprise, and SUSE Enterprise Server on shielded VMs. Microsoft's Shielded Virtual Machines technology is discussed in Windows Server 2016 Shielded Virtual Machines consulting.
• Windows Admin Center is a new web-based application installed on-premises for managing servers, clusters, hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) running Storage Spaces Direct, Windows 10 computers, and Azure-based VMs. Windows Admin Center can be used to manage Windows Server 2012 and newer. Windows Admin Center is an "in-box" utility and so can be utilized to manage servers on private networks disconnected from the public Internet. By posting the Windows Admin Center gateway server to the public Internet, you can administer your servers safely from any location.
  
  
  Microsoft Windows Admin Center permits you to administer local and Azure cloud VMs from a single pane of glass

• Container orchestration with Kubernetes, the popular management automation tool for Docker containers, includes enhanced capability such as the ability to utilize integrated security tooling to guard Windows and Linux services. For information about containers on Microsoft Windows Server, refer to Windows Server containers consulting.
• Deduplication and Data Compression for ReFS Volumes allows 10 times more data on a given Resilient File System (ReFS) volume. The ReFS file system, introduced in Microsoft Windows Server 2012, integrates silicon performance tiers for handling hot data along with HDD/SDD capacity tiers to provide scale and fault tolerance.
• Windows Defender ATP is included with Windows Server 2019 as a built-in capability that needs no additional license and no agent software to install.
• Encrypted Networks is a new feature that encrypts data traveling between VMs interacting within subnets that are set to be Encryption Enabled. Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) on the virtual subnet prevents anyone with access to the physical network from reading, altering, or spoofing network data. Traffic between encrypted subnets is not encrypted.
• A USB Flash Drive connected to your router can be assigned as a witness in dual-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 say which of the servers has the fresher data.
  
  
  Microsoft Windows Server 2019 allows a USB Flash drive to act as a witness in two-server clusters

• Low Extra Delay Background Transport automatically avoids network congestion by taking up bandwidth only during periods when the network is being sparingly utilized. LEDBAT allows an organization to distribute massive, important updates throughout a corporate network without impacting the responsiveness of mission-critical services.
• System Insights uses advanced analytics and machine learning to improve capacity planning. System Insights runs locally on each Windows Server 2019 instance and analyses performance stats and events to forecast capacity needs in important areas such as usage for volumes, total storage capacity, CPU, and networking.
• Windows Time Service works with the new time synchronization method called Precision Time Protocol and provides correct time during a leap second. Windows Server 2019 also supports time traceability and software time-stamping. These capabilities deliver greater accuracy and precision, allow compliance with UTC and other regulations such as Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and meet the requirements of various time-critical workloads. Because network configuration is challenging to implement PTP, NTP remains the default time synchronization method for Microsoft Windows Server 2019.

Progent's certified data security experts can assist you to follow leading practices to create a modern information security solution that is consistent across on-premises and cloud-based resources as well as mobile end points. Progent can assist your company to set up 24x7 remote security monitoring and management using an effective mix of security technologies from Microsoft as well as third-party providers. Progent also can run security assessments to make sure that your IT environment meets regulatory and industry data security mandates such as SOX, ISO 27001, PCI DSS 3.2, and FedRAMP.

Progent's roster of Cisco-certified CCIE network infrastructure experts is among the biggest of any independent IT services company in the U.S. Progent can assist your company to design, implement and manage a resilient and cost-effective hybrid network infrastructure that incorporates the latest high-availability and disaster recovery technologies built into Microsoft Windows Server 2019. Progent's disaster recovery planning consultants can assist your organization create and validate an end-to-end process for rebounding rapidly from any foreseen catastrophe.

To assist your company to manage your Microsoft Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server Hyper-V environment, Progent can provide a range of expertise like Windows Admin Center consulting, PowerShell programming, SC Virtual Machine Manager hybrid on-prem/cloud management consulting, and System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) consultants. Progent also has assembled the ProSight line of remote monitoring and management (RMM) outsourcing packages that provide small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) an affordable and efficient option for network management.

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

Progent's Remote Consulting Support and Troubleshooting Services
Progent has two decades of background delivering fast, top-tier online technical consulting and debugging support and has provided remote expertise to businesses in every state in the US and across Canada. (See Progent's Client Testimonials.) Progent also offers onsite assistance in major U.S. metropolitan areas. Progent offers on-demand expertise to help your organization to resolve challenging technical problems or comprehensive project management outsourcing and co-sourcing services.

If you need immediate remote assistance from a Microsoft-certified expert, refer to Progent's Remote Support Services.

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