Grundig IT Newsletter
Computing News That You Can Use – November 2021
NOTE: To browse past topics that we have covered over the years, go here.
Windows Server 2022 – Let’s Look at What it Has to Offer!
Last month we talked about our experiences with the newly-released Windows 11. This month, we’re tackling a related topic: Microsoft’s new Windows Server 2022 release. While it has a lot of improvements on older Windows Server versions, such as Windows Server 2012 / R2, Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2019
Those who are most interested in looking at Windows Server 2022 releases are likely those with old servers – in particular people using Server 2012 / R2 servers, the 2016 version, or even older ones. The 10-year support lifecycle that Microsoft is giving its products means that people who are running their businesses on Server 2012 machines are going to be unsupported soon. This means that no more security updates can be expected by the end of next year on those older servers and that it will, as a result become more likely to be hacked.
Businesses that have heavily invested in new workstations and are looking to supply their staff with Windows 11 machines may also have a good reason to upgrade their servers to the 2022 edition, since the two newest releases by Microsoft have a lot of integrated security features which work well with each other.
What really is new with Microsoft Server 2022? Server 2019 had very good reviews and has held up well over the last few years, and the newest edition of Microsoft Server is strongly rooted in that successful operating system. It has a number of new features that are all focused in a few key areas – primarily enhances server and Azure Hybrid integration between cloud and local machines.
Microsoft Server 2022 has numerous security upgrades. Most-notable are the upgrades focused on firmware-based defenses, virtualization software, and credential-hacking attacks. Microsoft refer to it as ‘Secured-Core Server’, basically locking down the defenses of the hardware and software to stop bad actors from doing things behind the scenes of the operating system. They also have improved in SMB-based security for data transfers between machines.
Microsoft has been moving a lot of their focus away from on-premises servers and instead has spent time developing Azure Active Directory. This is exemplified by their release of Server 2022. In fact, Microsoft has dedicated a release version of Server 2022 focused on working with Azure, and many of their features are focused on interfacing between those two. If you have a hybrid domain between your local premises and the Azure cloud, Server 2022 is definitely designed to be appealing to you.
As always, though, one must be careful when jumping directly into new systems and new software. In particular for Microsoft Server, it may be preferable to move to Server 2019 instead, which is a very good, very solid operating system with three years of stress and testing and use – you know exactly what you’re getting, and if you don’t need the features that are shiny and new, it is probably better to stay with it, at least for the upcoming 6 months or instead of the new Server 2022 – especially since a lot of those features are planned to be released to both systems. If you really want to get Server 2022, on the other hand, consider waiting a few months until it has had time to stabilize.
Anyone having a difficult time choosing between a server or replacement server and moving completely to the Cloud at this time is advised and invited to contact Grundig IT for a free consultation.
Tom Grundig – 925.528.9081 – tom@grundigit.com
