Windows Server

We loved having so many of you from our Windows Server community at Ignite, whether you were there in-person or watching online. For the vast majority who weren’t able to make it, I wanted to share some great Windows Server highlights that you can watch at your convenience: What’s New in Windows Server v.Next – This session, led by Jeff Woolsey and Elden Christiansen, featured previews of what we are working on for the next version of Windows Server. Watch the video to catch up on enhancements that are available now, including Hotpatch for Desktop Experience in Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition, as well as some sneak peeks, including improvements for File Server, Hyper-V, and Storage. If you like what you see in the session, try it out! You can try many of these upcoming features through the Windows Insider program. Do More with Windows Server and SQL Server on Azure – If you like demos and rapid-fire feature news, you will love this Ignite breakout session with Jeff Woolsey and Bob Ward. They cover some of the newer capabilities of Windows Server and SQL Server in Azure, including Microsoft Defender for Azure SQL. View the full article

Hi Windows Server Community, On this month's Patch Tuesday (see KB5031364), we released a set of new in-box experiences for WS2022 that we're really excited about! We're making it easier than ever before to connect your server to Azure Arc, Microsoft's management platform for on-premises and multi-cloud servers. You've told us that you love the fact that Arc enables inventory of all your servers running everywhere: on-premises, on physical, virtual or even multi-cloud. Azure Arc provides this at no additional cost, click here to learn all about it. The first change you'll notice is a new system tray icon that helps you get started with Azure Arc if you aren't yet using it. If you choose to set up Azure Arc, the entire process -- downloading, installing, and configuring the Azure Connected Machine agent -- can now be completed using graphical wizards on the server. You don't need to go to the Azure portal, generate a script, and run it in PowerShell anymore. When Azure Arc is installed on the server, the system tray icon and Server Manager both show the status of your connection to Azure and let you perform common agent management tasks. We believe these experiences will help admins by providing a convenient, interactive set of experiences for using Azure Arc with Windows Servers that include the Desktop Experience. Since this is all new on Windows Server 2022 as of October 2023, it is important to understand what has been added and what has not. What is included: A Windows Server optional component that includes the following. AzureArcSetup.exe (installer wizard) and entry points to launch this on the Start Menu, in Local Server properties view in Server Manager, and via an icon in the systray (that requires discovery by clicking to expand) A systray icon that becomes more interactive once the Arc installer wizard is used to complete successful connection of the machine to Azure What is not included: The Azure Connect Machine agent, or any other agent (an admin must choose to install this as part of the installer GUI wizard) Anything that changes the security posture or configuration of the local Windows Server Anything that changes permissions, access, or policies of an Azure account For more details on the new in-box Azure Arc-enabled servers onboarding workflow, learn more here. The AzureArcSetup optional component (containing the graphical installer and system tray icon) can be completely removed by an administrator through Server Manager or PowerShell by following documentation here: Install or Uninstall Roles, Role Services, or Features | Microsoft Learn. Thanks, Yash & the Windows Server team​; Ryan & the Azure Arc team View the full article

In case you missed it: On July 27 we celebrated the incredible 30-year anniversary of Windows Server (counting from Windows Server NT 3.1 in 1993). But what's really worth celebrating is all of you -- the IT managers and system admins who have worked with Windows Server and helped us make it better over the last three decades. We love the enthusiasm of the Windows Server community and we are so honored to have been on this ride along with you. Thank you. Since our initial post from Jeff_Woolsey_MSFT went live, we've had so many people add their nostalgic pics of well-worn Windows Server NT books and decades-old swag. In addition to Jeff's extensive history and video on Windows Server, Sonia Cuff put together this fun video compilation and post. Be sure to check them out! Windows Server NT came along when Bill Gates was CEO, when the Internet was in its early days, and just few people owned what would later become today's smartphones. In terms of technology, at this time, a 2-processor computer was huge, a 4-processor computer was a “super computer.” Windows Server NT 3.1 supported both 2- and 4- processor systems. What I find even more interesting is the way that, with the growth and steep innovation curve of Windows Server and other business technologies, the IT team has grown in importance and come out of the shadows. I found this old Windows Server 2003 commercial that illustrates how this dynamic was becoming real at the turn of the last century: For those of you working in corporate settings or other large organizations, do you feel you're finally starting to get the credit you deserve? With that, I'd like to close the book on one more Windows Server milestone and amplify a couple of the more recent developments: As we take a moment to look back on this 30th birthday of Windows Server, we have plenty of new and improved features coming that will make innovation easier, and can free up time for more strategic work. Here are a few examples we've recently announced: Hotpatch – Until recently, Hotpatching had only been available on Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition in Server Core. As of this July, we’ve rolled it out for Desktop Experience. Hotpatch updates simplify securing your Windows Server devices without needing a reboot. Early adopters have reported being able to update their VMs within a couple of days as compared to previously taking weeks. Windows Admin Center version 2306 – This new version became generally available in June. Among the improvements in the new version is Windows Defender application control (WDAC) support. Read about this and other new features the WAC team created thanks to your input. New ways to get Extended Security Updates. Following the standard lifecycle policy, Windows Server 2012 / 2012 R2 is reaching the end of extended support in October. At Inspire, we announced a new way to get Extended Security Updates (ESUs) should you need them. Again, a big THANK YOU to the Windows Server community! View the full article

We’re excited to announce the General Availability of Hotpatching on Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition VMs with Desktop Experience. This fulfills one of our biggest requests from customers: Hotpatching beyond Server Core. Hotpatch updates simplify securing your Windows Server devices without needing a reboot. Early adopters have reported being able to update their VMs within a couple of days as compared to previously taking weeks. Get access to this capability by using the newly released images. Now, all versions of Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition on Azure and Azure Stack HCI can enable Hotpatching! This marks our continued investment in ensuring that Azure is the best destination to run Windows Server, with many capabilities to optimize your server management through services such as Azure Automanage. Watch the video and read the FAQ below to learn more! What are the key benefits of Hotpatching? Fewer reboots, which means higher availability resulting in less workload disruptions. Faster deployment of updates because Hotpatch updates only contain security fixes so they are about 10x smaller, install faster, take effect without reboot. Minimal OS changes helps you manage change control. Azure Update Manager provide simple update patch orchestration management. What is new with this announcement? We are releasing new OS images that support Hotpatching. Will existing images with Desktop Experience support Hotpatching? The existing Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition images with the Desktop Experience will not support Hotpatching. To benefit from Hotpatching, you must deploy the new OS images. Are all updates installed without a reboot? Hotpatching is limited to security fixes released for Windows operating systems (excluding .NET framework). Non security fixes and other 3rd party updates are not part of the Hotpatch program. For more information on the Hotpatch schedule and baseline patches, review the Hotpatch documentation. How do I get started? Simply Create VMs with the newly released images (Hotpatching is enabled by default). For additional information refer to this blog or the documentation. View the full article

Announcing Windows Server Annual Channel for Containers Many of our Windows Server customers who use containers have expressed a need for faster innovation to keep up with this technology. Today, we’d like to share our progress on a new Windows Server Annual Channel for Containers. The goal of this new release is to provide an experience optimized for Windows Server host for Kubernetes and Windows Server container customers. The first version will be available later this year with preview access in July. You can also contact our Windows Containers team with interest today. This will be a completely optional upgrade to suit the needs of customers requiring increased innovation cycles. One of the first big features of the annual channel is portability. This is one of the most requested features from our customers and with the first annual release, we are happy to announce support for this feature. Portability addresses a key difference between Windows and Linux containers, which can delay customers’ accessing the latest Windows Server features due to the fact that Windows containers previously required that workloads have matching container image versions. For example, Windows Server 2019 process-isolated containers cannot run on a Windows Server 2022 host. The new portability functionality will enable Windows Server 2022-based container image OS to run on newer versions of Windows Server host OS such as the new annual channel release. This support will enable customers and container services like Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) to provide updated container host versions of Windows Server on a frequent basis without requiring customers to update their containers, much like Linux does already. What’s Coming? While we expect that most customers will continue to prefer their current main Long Term Servicing Channel Releases (LTSC), such as Windows Server 2022 Datacenter, for our containers-focused customers the new capabilities in this annual channel release create new efficiencies. The new Windows Server Annual Channel for Containers will ship every year and be available as an opt-in, creating added choices to the LTSC releases we offer today. With this release, Windows on AKS customers will be able to take advantage of this through a new Windows OS SKU with versioning aligned to Kubernetes versions, creating a parallel to the Linux upgrade process. We look forward to sharing preview details on the upcoming Windows Server Annual Channel for Containers. - Hari Pulapaka Head of Product for Windows Server on behalf of the Windows Server team View the full article

We are pleased to announce that Hotpatching is now in preview on Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition with the Desktop Experience installation option. You may remember our previous announcement from last February announcing the availability of Hotpatching for Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition (Core). We announced our intent to support Hotpatching for the Desktop Experience then, and we are excited to finally bring this capability to preview! With this release, you can now enjoy all the benefits of Hotpatching combined with all the additional features available in the desktop experience. Get started now! Create a VM using the preview image published here. For in-depth instructions, follow the instructions later in this article! With this new support, all Windows Server 2022 Azure Edition VMs in Azure (including Azure Stack HCI) can take advantage of rebootless updates using Preview images! This marks our continued investment in making Azure the best destination to run Windows Server, with many capabilities that optimize your server management through services such as Azure Automanage. What is Hotpatching? Hotpatching is the ability to patch and update your OS without rebooting. This is accomplished by modifying code in-memory, undetectable to the user, without hindering your workloads or compromising on security. Hotpatching provides several benefits: Lower workload impact due to less reboots Faster deployment of updates as the hotpatch packages are smaller, install faster, and have easier patch orchestration with Azure Update Manager Better protection, as the hotpatch update packages are scoped to Windows security updates that install faster without rebooting To learn more about how hotpatching works, watch the video below. How to create a new Virtual Machine with Hotpatch Note: This information covers instructions on how to create a VM with Hotpatch on Azure. For instructions on how to enable a VM with Hotpatch for Azure Stack HCI, please refer to this article. 1a. Create a VM from Azure Portal During the public preview, you will use a preview marketplace image to create a Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition Desktop Experience VM with Hotpatch pre-configured. Use this link to create a new Windows Server Azure Edition VM: https://aka.ms/HotpatchPreviewImage Select Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition Hotpatch Preview and click Create Supply VM details, with the following considerations: Ensure that Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition Hotpatch Preview is selected in the Image dropdown) Specify a Region where you want to deploy. On the Management tab step, scroll down to the ‘Guest OS updates’ section. You should see Enable Hotpatch is set to true and Patch orchestration options is set to Azure-orchestrated. Next, create your VM. 1b. Create a VM programmatically with an ARM template and the Azure CLI If you wish to create a VM programmatically, below are image details (publisher, offer, SKU, image version) and a step-by-step process to execute commands from PowerShell using an ARM template and the Azure CLI. This is especially useful if you would like to test applying Hotpatches to a new VM, even after a subsequent marketplace image has been released that already contains those updates. Consider the following scenario: The WS 2022 Azure Edition Desktop Experience preview image available in the marketplace already contains the April patches by default; You would like to test installing the Hotpatches that will be released in May 2023 onto a clean, new VM of the WS 2022 Azure Edition Desktop Experience preview image. If you create that VM programmatically from an ARM template, you can indicate which image version you would like to use – so you can specify the April marketplace image, then start up the VM. If May or June 2023 updates have released when you are creating the VM then you will see rebootless install of the Windows security update from May or June. WS 2022 Azure Edition Preview Hotpatch April baseline image details: "publisher": "microsoftwindowsserver", "offer": "windowsserverhotpatch-previews", "sku": "windows-server-2022-azure-edition-hotpatch", "version": "20348.1668.230329" Step by step instructions to create a VM from an ARM template using PowerShell and Azure CLI: Start a new PowerShell session on your local device Install the ‘Az’ module Install-Module -Name Az -Scope CurrentUser -Repository PSGallery -Force -AllowClobber Use az to browse the vm image list to find details about the image you would like to create (the query below will display all the marketplace images available for the sku specified above) az vm image list --location southcentralus --publisher MicrosoftWindowsServer --offer windowsserverhotpatch-previews --sku "windows-server-2022-azureedition-hotpatch" --all --output table In preparation for running command ‘New-AzResourceGroupDeployment’ in a subsequent step, create and populate ARM template files ‘template.json’ and ‘parameters.json’ with details about the VM you are going to create, and save those files to a local folder (in this example, c:\pstemp). Details you may need to populate manually (there may be more or less depending on your template): Parameters.json Field Sample value adminPassword.value [your password here] Template.json Field Sample value resources.[vm].properties.storageProfile. imageReference "publisher": "microsoftwindowsserver", "offer": "windowsserverhotpatch-previews", "sku": "windows-server-2022-azure-edition-hotpatch", "version": "20348.1668.230329" In your PowerShell session, connect to the Azure account that you would like to use to test. (Depending on your account, you may need to specify the tenant). You should see an interactive popup asking for Azure credentials. NOTE: Make sure this tenant matches any values populated in the ARM template created above. Connect-AzAccount -TenantId [your tenant ID] Specify the subscription that you would like to use to test. NOTE: Make sure this subscription matches any values populated in the ARM template created above. Set-AzContext -Subscription "[your subscription ID]" Run the command New-AzResourceGroupDeployment, specifying the name of the deployment, the resource group name of the deployment, the template file location, and the template parameter file location. New-AzResourceGroupDeployment -Name [your deployment name] ` -ResourceGroupName [your resource group] ` -TemplateFile "c:\pstemp\template.json" ` -TemplateParameterFile "c:\pstemp\parameters.json" The deployment will now run synchronously, provisioning your VM. After a few minutes you will receive a status indicating success (ProvisioningState: Succeeded) or failure (with error details in red). For an in-depth comparison of Desktop Experience vs. Server Core, please refer to this article. Happy hotpatching! -Hilal View the full article

Windows Server 2012/R2 reaches end-of-support in one year on October 10, 2023. To help you prepare, here are 3 great options to keep your Windows Server 2012/R2 workloads protected: Migrate to Azure and run securely with up to three years of free Extended Security Updates This includes Azure destinations such as Azure virtual machines, Azure Dedicated Host, Azure VMware Solution, and Azure Stack HCI. When migrating to Azure, you can save up to 80% when combining free Extended Security Updates with Azure Hybrid Benefit and Reserved Instances. You can also get the guidance and support you need through the Azure Migration and Modernization Program so you can migrate with confidence. End of support also provides an opportunity for workload modernization, and you can continue to protect these workloads in Azure while you consider options for modernization. Azure offers native support for your largest Windows Server workloads: Azure App Service to modernize your .NET apps Azure Kubernetes Service to manage workloads you decide to containerize Azure SQL, a PaaS service for SQL Server databases that makes patching and upgrades a thing of the past Azure Virtual Desktop for your Windows Server RDS-based VDI environments Azure Automanage to simplify configuration and management of Windows Server with automated operations. Upgrade on-premises to Windows Server 2022 Windows Server 2022 provides the latest security, hybrid, and application modernization capabilities such as: Apply advanced multi-layer protection against threats with secured-core server. Built-in hybrid capabilities with Azure Arc and richer insights through Windows Admin Center Improve container application deployment with smaller image size for faster download and simplified authentication. Deploy extended security updates on-premises Customers that cannot meet the end of support deadline and have Software Assurance or subscription licenses under an enterprise agreement enrollment will have the option to buy Extended Security Updates to get three more years of security updates for Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2. Learn more here. Get started Start your migration and modernization journey with confidence through expert guidance and support through the Azure Migration and Modernization Program. Learn more about what’s new in Windows Server 2022 in the blog and documentation. Learn more about Windows Server 2012/R2 end of support and frequently asked questions about extended security updates. Related resources Blog: Windows Server End of Support: Key Dates - Microsoft Tech Community Blog: Know your options for SQL Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 End of Support - Microsoft SQL Server Blog Web: SQL & Windows Server 2012 End of Support | Microsoft FAQ: Extended Security Updates for SQL Server and Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 | Microsoft Note: In alignment with the servicing model for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 (link to blog), the Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 ESU program will only include Monthly Rollup packages; Security Only update packages will not be provided. View the full article

  Looking to grow your hybrid cloud and Azure skill set? This January 31 at 9 a.m. Pacific time you will get a chance to chat with Microsoft learning content creators, technical trainers, and cloud advocates about training and certification topics specifically geared towards Windows Server professionals. You can RSVP at aka.ms/windowsserverama Here's an introduction to the Microsoft team that will be on the chat to answer your questions: Vinicius Apolinario, Senior Cloud Advocate Ask me about: Windows Server Containers Julio Cruz, Microsoft Technical Trainer Ask me about: Multicloud, certifications Thomas Maurer, Chief Evangelist, Azure Hybrid Ask me about: Azure Arc-enabled Server, Hybrid Cloud, Windows Server Management, Azure certifications Lanna Teh, Product Marketing Manager Ask me about: Azure certification journey, training tools, skilling programs, learning videos, exam prep, free modalities, exam vouchers Orin Thomas, Principal Hybrid Cloud Advocate Ask me about: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate certification and Windows Server   View the full article

Hello Windows Server community! In case you haven’t received your invitation yet: Please join us for the Windows Server Summit virtual event! December 6, 9 AM Pacific time Sign up now for our 4th annual Windows Server Summit. We’ve incorporated your suggestions, and this year Windows Server Summit includes even more demos and practical guidance that you’ll be able to apply right away. And – of course! – this virtual event is free. In just 90 minutes, Windows Server Summit provides 200-level technical sessions plus some more general overviews that will help you understand the technologies that best meet your organization’s needs. Here’s a sampling of what you’ll learn: Tips for securing and managing your infrastructure with Azure Arc, Windows Admin Center, and Azure Automanage How to optimize your Windows Servers, including modernizing to new versions, revisiting your security settings, and improving file shares How to bring Azure capabilities to your on-premises environment New features in Windows Server 2022 (and a sneak peek at what’s coming next) Updates on programs, offers, and certifications to help you start modernizing Speakers include Roanne Sones, Rick Claus, Sonia Cuff, Orin Thomas, Jeff Woolsey, Ned Pyle, Thomas Maurer, and many other Windows Server and Azure experts. There will be live Q&A via chat for those of you attending December 6th at 9 AM Pacific. If you can’t make it, please register anyway and all the content will be made available to you for convenient on-demand viewing afterward. We’re looking forward to seeing you there. Sign up here View the full article

Heya folks, Ned here again. Last year we released the first Windows Server Azure Edition, a VM-only server where we bring continuous updates to state-of-the-art features instead of waiting three years like Windows Server Datacenter or Standard editions, especially in edge-focused scenarios. At Ignite, we're excited to share many updates coming to Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure edition: Azure Stack HCI now supports running Azure Edition VMs Hotpatch for Azure Edition VMs with Desktop Experience is coming VM Marketplace now makes it easy to deploy Azure Edition VMs onto Azure Stack HCI Storage Replica now supports SMB compression on Azure Edition SMB over QUIC client certificates are coming Let's get to it. Azure Stack HCI now supports running Azure Edition VMs Azure Stack HCI is a hyperconverged infrastructure cluster that hosts VMs in your datacenter or edge locations, providing a combination of on-premises private cloud with Azure services. Azure Stack HCI is free to try for 60 days. Since it's delivered as an Azure service, it's attached to an Azure subscription. Azure Stack HCI also maintains catalog of validated hardware to ensure the most reliable infrastructure and performance. Besides traditional VM workloads, it can run Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure Virtual Desktop. You can manage it using existing tools like Windows Admin Center and PowerShell, but Azure Stack HCI also provides consistency with your public cloud through the Azure Portal. Starting now, Azure Stack HCI supports running Windows Server Azure Edition VMs. You can deploy Azure Edition through the new Azure Marketplace integration (read more below). You can also download the Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition ISO today to create a new VM or in-place upgrade an existing VM running on Azure Stack HCI. Downloads are here: Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition (EN-US) ISO Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition (ZH-CN) ISO Your Azure subscription permits you to use the Windows Server Azure Edition on any virtual machine instances running on Azure Stack HCI, see Product Terms. There's a new Deploy Windows Server Azure Edition VMs - Azure Stack HCI | Microsoft Learn article you should review. With Azure Edition running on Azure Stack HCI, features like Hotpatch for Server Core and SMB over QUIC are now available to you in your on-prem datacenters and edge locations. You get the best of public and private cloud in one swirl of chocolate and peanut butter. To enable hotpatching within a VM you build from ISO instead of deploying as an Azure Marketplace image, review the following steps. There are many new features in Azure Stack HCI that were just announced - new SA benefits, Arc-enabled management Preview 2, 22H2 Feature Update GA, Hybrid Azure Kubernetes Service, and Microsoft-provided Azure Stack hardware(!) - see What's new for Azure Stack HCI at Microsoft Ignite 2022 - Microsoft Community Hub. Hotpatch for Azure Edition VMs with desktop experience is coming When we first released Windows Server 2022's Azure Edition, we supported hotpatching VMs running the Server Core installation mode. We always recommend Server Core because it consumes fewer resources and has the lowest attack surface. Now we're getting ready for what everyone wants: Hotpatch for Azure Edition servers running the Desktop Experience will preview this spring. Azure Edition VMs installed with the Desktop Experience mode (the Windows Explorer shell, Start Menu, etc.) will no longer reboot every month for security updates, and instead will only restart a few times a year when they re-baseline using a normal Cumulative Update. This means as many as 8 reboots a year could be skipped for any Azure Edition VMs in your fleet on Azure Stack HCI or Azure IaaS. To show you that we mean business, here is a teaser demo showing hotpatches installing on an Azure Edition server with Desktop Experience! VM Marketplace now makes it easy to deploy Azure Edition VMs onto Azure Stack HCI In Azure Marketplace you can find, try, buy, and deploy virtual machines using Azure-certified images. We've now brought this deployment story to your edge and datacenters with Azure Marketplace VM images for Azure Stack HCI. With this new integration, you can download an Azure Marketplace VM image with few clicks then use the existing Arc-enabled flows to create VMs on Azure Stack HCI! In the public preview, we include Azure Marketplace VM images for Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition, Window 10 Enterprise, and Windows 11 Enterprise. We'll provide Azure Marketplace Linux VM images and other Windows Server VM images in future updates. You can also deploy custom Azure Marketplace images via your Azure Storage account, go here to learn how. Storage Replica now supports SMB compression on Azure Edition Storage Replica enables replication of volumes between Windows Servers or clusters for disaster recovery and has synchronous and asynchronous modes; the latter is ideal for long range replication, such as between cities or to your nearest Azure regional datacenter. With the installation of the September 2022 Cumulative Update, Azure Edition servers now include compression for asynchronous replication in Storage Replica. This leverages the SMB compression available in all versions of Windows Server 2022 and Windows 11. You'll see a huge drop in network consumption over what is often a pretty congested long-haul network. You'll also lower your recovery point convergence time for many workloads, meaning your data should be protected much faster than the usual asynchronous replication performance. For more info on configuring Storage Replica compression, review this information SMB over QUIC client certificates are coming SMB over QUIC offers an "SMB VPN" for telecommuters, mobile device users, and high security organizations. The server certificate creates a TLS 1.3-encrypted tunnel over the internet-friendly UDP port 443 instead of the legacy TCP port 445. All SMB traffic, including authentication and authorization within the tunnel is never exposed to the underlying network. SMB behaves normally within the QUIC tunnel, meaning the user experience doesn't change. SMB features like multichannel, signing, compression, continuous availability, directory leasing, and so on, work normally. Azure Edition servers can be SMB over QUIC file servers and Windows Server 2022, Windows 11, and third parties can be SMB over QUIC clients. With a coming monthly Cumulative Update, you will be able to add an additional layer of protection to the SMB over QUIC connection process. In the current mode, you install a certificate on the file server and a client that connects must trust that certificate's issuer. Now you will optionally be allowed to deploy additional certificates that were issued from that same certificate authority to your clients and require them when connecting to the server, adding another layer of "mutual agreement" to the connection process. Look for this to reach Azure Edition Insider and Windows Insider this spring, with a demo coming to the Windows Storage Blog later this month. Sum up Azure Stack HCI integration, Hotpatch for Desktop Experience, VM Marketplace, SMB over QUIC improvements, Storage Replica improvements, that's a lot of new Azure Edition functionality and it's not even the full list! We have at least one major surprise coming this spring and will also have a ton of new features and scenarios by the next Ignite in 2023. The train never stops on Azure Edition! More useful reading from Ignite today: Generally available: Simplify management and operations with Azure Automanage Machine Best Practices Maximize your Windows Server investments with new benefits and more flexibility How Microsoft Azure helps drive agility and optimization for your business Announcing Windows Container Base Image Redistribution Rights Change Windows Admin Center for Azure Virtual Machines is now generally available What's new for Azure Stack HCI at Microsoft Ignite 2022 - Microsoft Community Hub Until next time, Ned Pyle View the full article