Microsoft has quietly and secretly released Windows Server 2022. Many updates should look familiar to users.
Windows Server 2022 is here: Microsoft is releasing its latest operating system in the variants Standard, Datacenter and Datacenter Azure Edition without much fanfare . As can be seen from several early user reports, there is Windows 21H2 under the hood.
Security updates & Azure
Microsoft had already announced the majority of the new functions at the beginning of the year, including in the area of security: The new Windows server should be better protected against firmware attacks by using Trusted Platform Module 2.0 & System Guard starts. Windows Defender also virtualizes and protects credentials in an isolated process called Credential Guard. HVCI, on the other hand, virtualizes kernel code and drivers to isolate executing code and verify it before execution. HTTPS and TLS 1.3 are now enabled by default. If desired, AES-256 encryption can be used for SMB. Many of these innovations should be familiar to users, because although Microsoft calls them Secured-Core Servers, Windows 10 had already received them at the end of 2019.
Microsoft is also linking its on-premises server more closely to its own Azure Cloud: In the future, for example, administrators will be able to manage all systems centrally in Azure Arc, regardless of their location. Among other things, Azure Policy, Azure Monitor and Azure Defender can be added for your own data center with just a few clicks in the Windows Admin Center. The latter is now in v2103, the update mainly affects the areas of virtualization and event monitoring. The Storage Migration Service has also been updated, and now Windows servers outsourced to Azure and local Windows servers can be seamlessly connected so that data can be exchanged quickly.
Finally, the developers are also tackling the Windows containers. Microsoft has expanded Kubernetes support and reduced the size of the containers. Users can package .NET applications in containers in order to then be able to offer them to other cloud services via the Azure Container Registry. Nested virtualization – Hyper-V on a virtual machine – now also works on AMD systems.
Only as LTSC release
Den Microsoft offers the new Windows Server 2022 exclusively as an LTSC release. The operating system therefore receives five years of mainstream support and a further five years of extended support. The semi-annual SAC expenses, on the other hand, are eliminated and users should switch to Azure Stack HCI. If you want to try out the new operating system, you can do so with a free evaluation version limited to 180 days.
