Category Archives: Cloud & Datacenter Management (2024-2025)

WSUS Retirement: Impact and Strategies for Server System Updates

With Microsoft’s announcement regarding the retirement of Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), a new chapter begins in managing updates for server systems. After almost 20 years since its release, WSUS will no longer be actively developed, creating uncertainty among IT administrators who have relied on this tool to distribute updates in enterprise environments. In this article, we will analyze the impact of this decision and possible migration strategies, with a particular focus on server systems.

What is WSUS and What Does Its Retirement Mean?

Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) has been the go-to tool for managing and distributing Microsoft product updates within enterprise networks for years. IT administrators can approve, schedule, and control the distribution of updates, deciding which devices receive them. WSUS also offers automation capabilities via PowerShell and integrates with Group Policy, making centralized management easier.

With the retirement announcement, Microsoft specified that WSUS will not be removed immediately, but it will no longer receive future developments or enhancements. The current functionality will be maintained, and Microsoft will continue to release updates through WSUS, but no new features will be introduced.

Implications for IT Administrators and Migration Strategies

The announcement has sparked doubts among IT administrators, especially regarding the continuity of support and the need to find alternative solutions. While WSUS will continue to be available in in-market versions of Windows Server, including the upcoming Windows Server 2025, it is crucial for administrators to start planning a transition to new solutions.

One important aspect to consider regarding the retirement of WSUS is its impact on Microsoft Configuration Manager. Although WSUS is being gradually retired, its deprecation will not directly impact the existing functionalities of Microsoft Configuration Manager, which will continue to use WSUS as a mechanism for managing and distributing updates. In other words, Configuration Manager will remain a viable option for organizations that rely on it to manage updates, with WSUS still serving as the distribution channel.

However, it is essential to note that even though WSUS will still be usable within Configuration Manager, Microsoft recommends planning a transition to cloud-based solutions such as Azure Update Manager to leverage new capabilities and improve the efficiency of update management in the long term. Migrating to the cloud is not only a natural evolution but also an opportunity to ensure more flexible and efficient server update management in line with modern business needs. This shift reflects the move towards a more cloud-oriented update management model, consistent with Microsoft’s strategy of simplifying Windows management through cloud-based solutions.

Azure Update Manager: A Worthy Replacement, But…

Azure Update Manager is a service that helps manage and govern updates for all machines, whether in Azure, on-premises, or on other cloud platforms connected via Azure Arc. From a single management console, it is possible to monitor update compliance for Windows and Linux servers, apply updates in real-time, or schedule them in defined maintenance windows.

With Azure Update Manager, you can:

Control and distribute security or critical updates to protect machines.
Enable periodic assessments to check for updates.
Use flexible patching options, such as scheduling updates in custom time windows.
Monitor update compliance for all machines, including hybrid or other cloud environments connected via Azure Arc.

Azure Update Manager offers several advantages, but there are some aspects to consider carefully.

Azure Update Manager respects the update source already configured on the machine, whether it is Windows Update for OS updates, Microsoft Update for product updates, or WSUS for a combination of both. In this context, WSUS can still be used in parallel with Azure Update Manager to provide additional capabilities, such as storing or caching updates locally.

The critical point concerns organizations with a large number of on-premises servers, where managing updates exclusively through Azure Update Manager requires further evaluation. The main concern is related to the bandwidth needed to download updates directly from the Internet to each server, which could saturate the network. Additionally, the micro-segmentation typical of server security policies makes it difficult to use peer-to-peer technologies such as Delivery Optimization.

Currently, if you want to explore a long-term strategy for enterprise companies and avoid this pain point, it’s necessary to evaluate solutions like Microsoft Connected Cache or explore options from other vendors.

Another relevant aspect is the cost associated with Azure Update Manager for servers managed through Azure Arc. While the service is free for systems residing in Azure, servers enabled for Azure Arc are subject to a cost of around €4.48 per server per month. However, there are cases where there are no charges for Azure Update Manager when the servers are:

Enabled for Extended Security Updates (ESU).
Managed through Defender for Servers Plan 2.
Hosted on Azure Stack HCI, when these machines are enabled for Azure benefits and managed via Azure Arc.

Conclusion

The retirement of WSUS will bring significant changes in the long term for IT administrators, especially in large environments with a high number of servers. While WSUS will continue to be available, companies should start considering long-term strategies to ensure efficient and secure update management. Azure Update Manager is a viable alternative but requires careful analysis of the economic and operational implications of this change.

For those interested in a more comprehensive approach in terms of security and centralized management, combining Azure Update Manager with Defender for Cloud (Plan 2) offers an interesting solution. This combination not only allows for update management but also provides advanced features for server system protection, ensuring a higher level of security.

In conclusion, although WSUS will remain available for a few more years, Microsoft’s direction is clear: the future of update management is moving towards the cloud, and organizations must prepare to face this transition in a strategic and proactive manner.

Proactive Cloud Protection: Experiences and Strategies for Cloud Security

With the growing adoption of cloud platforms, organizations face new security challenges that require a structured and proactive approach. Field experience has shown how critical it is to implement effective Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) solutions to continuously monitor and protect cloud infrastructures. These tools enable the detection and resolution of risks before they can evolve into critical threats. In this article, I will share practical advice for tackling these challenges, exploring the importance of CSPM, key risks to consider, and how Microsoft Defender for Cloud (MDfC) stands out as a comprehensive solution for managing cloud security. Additionally, we will review the essential steps for effectively implementing a CSPM solution and best practices to maximize security.

Understanding CSPM and Its Importance

Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) refers to a suite of tools and practices that continuously monitor and protect cloud infrastructures. Through direct experience with various projects, I have observed how organizations increasingly rely on cloud platforms, often exposing themselves to misconfigurations, compliance violations, and vulnerabilities. CSPM acts as a continuous supervisor, detecting and mitigating risks before they become critical threats, providing constant oversight over cloud environments.

The main risks that a CSPM solution helps to address include:

Data Breaches: Misconfigurations can inadvertently expose sensitive data, making it vulnerable to external threats.
Compliance Violations: Non-compliance with regulations can result in legal penalties and financial losses.
Reputational Damage: A security breach can undermine customer trust, negatively impacting the company’s reputation.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud: A Comprehensive CSPM Solution

Microsoft Defender for Cloud (MDfC) is an advanced Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) solution that excels in protecting heterogeneous cloud environments. Working directly on various projects, I have seen how MDfC, operating as a Cloud Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP), offers comprehensive protection throughout the application lifecycle, from development to deployment. Its scalability allows it to adapt to the evolving needs of organizations, supporting platforms like Azure, AWS, and GCP.

Figures 1 – Microsoft Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP)

MDfC stands out by managing various security areas in addition to CSPM:

Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP): This feature provides real-time threat detection and response for virtual machines, containers, Kubernetes, databases, and more, helping to reduce the attack surface.
Multi-Pipeline DevOps Security: It offers a centralized console to manage security across all DevOps pipelines, preventing misconfigurations and ensuring vulnerabilities are detected early in the development process.
Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (DIES): It centralizes the management of permissions across cloud and hybrid infrastructures, preventing the misuse of privileges.

Additionally, Cloud Security Network Services (CSNS) solutions integrate with CWPP to protect cloud infrastructure in real-time. A CSNS solution may include a wide range of security tools, such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protection and web application firewalls.

Implementing CSPM: Planning and Strategies

To implement a CSPM solution effectively, a detailed plan is essential to ensure alignment with business needs. Here are some practical suggestions:

Assess Security Objectives: Organizations should start by evaluating their cloud environments, identifying critical resources, and understanding their exposure to risks. This requires a thorough analysis of the IT security landscape, including identifying any gaps in infrastructure and compliance requirements.
Define Security Requirements: Once the cloud environment is understood, the next step is to establish security policies that protect high-value workloads and sensitive data. It’s crucial to outline risk management strategies that include preventive measures, such as audits and vulnerability scans, as well as reactive measures like breach response plans.
Select the Appropriate CSPM Solution: MDfC offers various levels of CSPM services. Organizations can start with basic functionalities, such as compliance controls and vulnerability assessments, and then evolve toward advanced capabilities, including in-depth security analysis, threat management, and governance tools.

Figures 2 – CSPM Plans (Foundational VS Defender CSPM)

Turning Strategy into Action

Once the planning phase is complete, it’s time to operationalize CSPM, translating strategic security objectives into concrete actions integrated into daily operations. Based on my experience, the key steps include:

Defining Roles and Responsibilities: Clearly assigning roles to team members is critical to ensuring accountability and effective management of CSPM tools. For example, security architects can focus on the overall strategy, while IT administrators handle the configuration and daily management of CSPM tools.
Establishing Solid Processes: Implementing workflows for regular security assessments, managing compliance, and resolving issues is crucial. Automation plays a key role at this stage, simplifying operations and reducing the risk of human error.
Continuous Monitoring and Improvement: Effective use of CSPM requires ongoing monitoring to identify new vulnerabilities and threats. Real-time monitoring tools, such as those provided by Defender for Cloud, enable organizations to respond swiftly to security incidents, ensuring a high level of protection.

Best Practices for Maximizing CSPM Effectiveness

To get the most out of CSPM, organizations should follow some best practices that I have found to be particularly effective:

Align with Industry Standards: Ensure that CSPM implementation complies with industry standards and best practices, such as the CIS Benchmarks and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. This ensures that the security measures adopted meet the required levels of protection and compliance.
Shift-Left Security: Integrate security into every phase of IT operations, from application design and development to deployment and maintenance. This approach, known as “shift-left,” reduces the risk of vulnerabilities being introduced into systems from the earliest stages.
Automate Security Processes: Automating tasks such as compliance checks, threat detection, and issue resolution significantly improves the efficiency of security operations, freeing up resources to address more complex threats.
Cultivate a Security Awareness Culture: Security must be a shared responsibility, not limited to the IT department. All employees should be trained and aware of their role in maintaining organizational security. Regular training sessions and workshops help to promote this culture of awareness.

Best Practices Specific to Defender CSPM

To optimize the use of Microsoft Defender for Cloud (MDfC) as a CSPM solution, it is useful to follow these best practices:

Customize MDfC Settings: Tailor MDfC configurations to the organization’s specific needs and risk profile, implementing targeted security policies, custom threat detection rules, and compliance benchmarks.
Prioritize Alerts: Configure MDfC to categorize and prioritize alerts based on severity, resource sensitivity, and potential impact on business activities, ensuring a prompt response to critical threats.
Customize Dashboards: Adapt MDfC dashboards to highlight the most relevant security metrics, compliance status, and operational insights, facilitating monitoring and management of security.

Conclusion

Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) solutions are essential to ensure security and compliance in evolving cloud environments. With advanced tools like Microsoft Defender for Cloud, organizations can monitor and protect their data and infrastructures, minimizing risks and maintaining a robust security posture. Implementing a CSPM solution properly requires strategic planning and continuous adaptation to new threats, but the benefits in terms of protection and resilience are significant. By following best practices and integrating security into every phase of IT operations, companies can ensure proactive and enduring protection while preserving customer trust and corporate reputation.

Windows Server 2025 vs. Azure Stack HCI: Who Wins the Virtualization Challenge?

Recently, the virtualization landscape has seen significant changes, pushing companies to evaluate new solutions for their IT environments. Specifically, the acquisition of VMware by Broadcom has raised concerns among many customers, leading them to explore alternatives for their virtualization infrastructures. In this context, Windows Server 2025 and Azure Stack HCI emerge as two key options offered by Microsoft. Both play a fundamental role in cloud and on-premises architectures, but they cater to very different needs and contexts. In this article, we will delve into the differences between these two platforms, highlighting their strengths and use cases to understand how they fit into the adoption of new virtualization and hybrid cloud solutions.

Background: The Evolution from Traditional Infrastructure to Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI)

Before the widespread adoption of hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI), virtualization was often implemented through a three-tier infrastructure, consisting of servers, switches, and SAN (Storage Area Network). The SAN represented the shared storage to which servers accessed via protocols such as iSCSI or Fibre Channel. This approach enabled and still enables the management of workloads across multiple hosts, ensuring redundancy and high availability through advanced failover and resilience mechanisms.

With the introduction of hyper-converged solutions, such as Azure Stack HCI—Microsoft’s solution for implementing a hyper-converged infrastructure—the management paradigm and architecture radically change: storage, networking, and computing are integrated into a single software-defined platform, eliminating the need for many dedicated hardware components.

Figure 1 – “Three Tier” Infrastructure vs Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI)

This allows for greater simplicity in management, reduced costs associated with hardware, rack space, and cooling, and more flexibility in deployment.

Windows Server 2025: The Operating System for All Needs

Windows Server 2025 represents the latest evolution of Microsoft’s proven server operating system. This new version is designed to be a versatile, general-purpose platform, aimed at meeting the needs of businesses of any size. Windows Server 2025 continues to support a wide range of workloads, from traditional services like Active Directory and SQL Server to advanced virtualization scenarios with Hyper-V.

Some of the key innovations and features of Windows Server 2025 include:

Virtualization enhancements: Hyper-V has been further enhanced to support advanced features like GPU partitioning and optimized performance for virtual machines (VMs). This makes it ideal for companies heavily dependent on virtualization and needing to manage high-intensity workloads.
Storage Spaces Direct (S2D): This feature allows the creation of distributed storage clusters, transforming local disks into shared, highly available storage pools, with a strong focus on performance and resilience.
Hybrid cloud support: Although primarily designed for on-premises environments, Windows Server 2025 offers strong integration with Azure Arc, enabling hybrid and centralized management of both local and cloud resources. This feature opens up new scenarios, where on-premises resources can be managed directly from the Azure portal.
Flexible licensing: Windows Server continues to offer adaptable licensing models to meet business needs. In fact, Microsoft plans to sell Windows Server 2025 not only through traditional perpetual licenses but also through a pay-as-you-go subscription option.

Scalability and Performance with Windows Server 2025

One of the standout aspects of Windows Server 2025 is its focus on scalability. With support for up to 240 terabytes of memory and 248 virtual processors per virtual machine, this platform is designed to handle extremely intensive workloads, such as artificial intelligence and big data processing. Additionally, optimization for NVMe storage ensures a performance improvement of up to 70% compared to previous versions, positioning Windows Server 2025 as an excellent choice for businesses needing high-speed storage.

Another significant innovation is support for AD-less clustering, designed for edge scenarios where traditional Active Directory (AD) management might not be practical. This is particularly useful for companies operating in decentralized environments, such as remote industrial sites or branch offices.

Azure Stack HCI: The Hyper-Converged Virtualization Platform

Unlike Windows Server, Azure Stack HCI is not a general-purpose operating system. It is a platform specifically designed for virtualization and containerization environments. Azure Stack HCI combines compute, networking, and storage in a software-defined solution, offering simplified on-premises workload management with strong Azure cloud integration. It is an ideal solution for organizations seeking a scalable HCI infrastructure that can be managed through the Azure portal.

Key features of Azure Stack HCI include:

Focus on virtualization: Azure Stack HCI is optimized to run virtual machines and containers, without offering traditional server roles like Active Directory or file servers. This makes it a solution focused on specific workloads, such as managing virtualization and containerization environments through Hyper-V and Kubernetes.
Advanced cloud integration: Azure Stack HCI integrates seamlessly with Azure services, enabling the management of both on-premises and cloud resources through a single interface. This hybrid capability simplifies tasks such as provisioning, monitoring, and governance of resources in geographically distributed environments.
Security: Azure Stack HCI implements over 100 predefined security best practices.
Costs and licensing: Azure Stack HCI adopts a subscription-based licensing model, ensuring constant updates and security patches. While this approach makes costs more predictable, it may be less advantageous for smaller setups compared to the traditional Windows Server licensing model.

When to Choose Windows Server 2025?

Windows Server 2025 is a versatile and reliable choice for a wide range of IT scenarios, thanks to its general-purpose nature. However, to determine whether this platform is suitable for a specific organization, it is important to evaluate technical, economic, and operational requirements. Situations where Windows Server 2025 might be the ideal solution include:

On-premises-focused workloads: If an organization needs to keep most of its workloads on-premises with minimal cloud integration, Windows Server 2025 is the best choice.
Limited budget: If the company is not ready to invest in subscription-based solutions, the traditional Windows Server licensing model might be more cost-effective.
Hardware compatibility: If the goal is to reuse existing hardware, Windows Server offers greater flexibility in terms of compatibility.

When to Choose Azure Stack HCI?

Azure Stack HCI stands out for its strong cloud integration and ability to provide a modern hyper-converged infrastructure. While not a general-purpose operating system, its architecture makes it particularly suited to specific needs related to virtualization and containerized workloads. Situations where Azure Stack HCI emerges as the optimal choice include:

Hybrid cloud environments: If a company has already adopted a hybrid cloud strategy, Azure Stack HCI offers integrated management with the Azure portal, simplifying the control of resources in distributed environments.
Resilience and disaster recovery: Thanks to support for stretched clusters across multiple geographic locations, Azure Stack HCI provides greater resilience and advanced disaster recovery options.
Infrastructure modernization: If you are looking to modernize infrastructure by adopting hyper-converged technologies and close cloud integration, Azure Stack HCI is the perfect solution to support the transition.

Conclusions

Windows Server 2025 and Azure Stack HCI are robust and powerful platforms, but designed for different needs. Windows Server 2025 is perfect for organizations needing a general-purpose platform with a strong on-premises presence and some hybrid cloud capabilities. Azure Stack HCI, on the other hand, is the ideal choice for companies looking to fully embrace hybrid cloud with simplified management and strong Azure integration.

The choice between the two will depend on the specific requirements of the organization, budget, and long-term goals. It’s not about deciding which is the “better” virtualization platform, but which better meets the company’s operational and strategic needs.

Azure Governance 2.0: managing Hybrid and Multi-Cloud environments with AI support

Hybrid and multi-cloud IT environments are revolutionizing how companies manage their digital infrastructures, offering the flexibility to combine on-premise resources with cloud services. This approach allows for optimal workload management and unprecedented scalability, but it also brings challenges that organizations must address to maintain control and security over their IT environments. In this article, we will explore the challenges of hybrid and multi-cloud IT environments, examining best practices for effective governance and the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in simplifying the management of these complex infrastructures.

Challenges of Hybrid and Multi-Cloud IT Environments

The adoption of hybrid and multi-cloud IT environments offers companies flexibility and scalability, but it introduces a series of challenges that need to be addressed to ensure effective resource management.

High and Unnecessary Service Costs

One of the main difficulties lies in cost management. Companies often face unexpected or excessive expenses due to a poor understanding of cloud provider pricing models or the activation of unnecessary services. To avoid this, it’s crucial to implement cost management strategies, including constant resource monitoring and service optimization based on real business needs.

New Security Threats

The move to the cloud brings new security threats. Organizations must tackle risks such as unauthorized access, data breaches, and misconfigured cloud services. To mitigate these dangers, solid security strategies are essential, including data encryption, multi-factor authentication, and advanced identity management. Training IT personnel on security risks and protection best practices is another critical component.

Delegation of Service Activation and Risk of Losing Control

The ease of activating cloud services can lead to “shadow IT” scenarios, where departments activate services autonomously without centralized IT control. This can result in resource dispersion and overall loss of control over the infrastructure. Clear guidelines and a centralized approval process are needed to ensure each cloud service activation is carefully evaluated and monitored.

Compliance Challenges

Integrating cloud solutions poses complex compliance challenges, especially in highly regulated industries. Companies must understand and comply with the specific regulatory requirements of their sector, working with cloud service providers to ensure compliance. Regular audits and compliance assessments are essential to keep cloud systems aligned with current regulations.

Managing Complex Technologies with Reduced Staff

Managing complex, ever-evolving IT environments requires specific skills and a sufficient number of qualified personnel. However, many organizations face this challenge with small IT teams. In these cases, investing in staff training and adopting automation and AI technologies can help reduce the manual workload, improving operational efficiency and resource management.

Although hybrid and multi-cloud environments offer many benefits, it’s crucial for companies to proactively address these challenges by implementing robust governance strategies, advanced security solutions, and automation tools to ensure effective and efficient IT resource management.

Cloud Governance: Essential for Control

Cloud Governance is a set of processes and tools that maintain technological and financial control over IT environments. This includes cost management, security, and resource standardization. An emerging aspect of governance also involves energy consumption and sustainability. Monitoring tools for emissions and environmental impact data collection help companies to be more conscious and responsible in their cloud strategy. Therefore, it is crucial to adopt Cloud Governance based on solid, time-tested frameworks.

Technologies and Best Practices for Governance with Microsoft Solutions

Effective cloud governance also requires advanced tools and established best practices. Microsoft provides an integrated ecosystem of solutions to manage, optimize, and protect cloud resources, ensuring security, cost control, and compliance.

Azure Cloud Adoption Framework The Azure Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) offers guidelines for planning, building, and managing cloud environments, with a dedicated section for governance. It helps companies structure security and compliance policies and optimize deployment processes, reducing risks.
Azure Policy Azure Policy ensures resources comply with company rules by applying automated security and compliance policies at scale. Policies identify and correct non-compliant configurations, ensuring constant control and protection.
Resource Lock Resource Locks prevent accidental modifications or deletions of critical resources, ensuring operational stability, particularly in production environments.
Resource Tagging Tagging simplifies the organization and management of components, particularly cloud resource costs, allowing clear budget division between projects or departments.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Microsoft Defender for Cloud offers advanced multi-layered security, covering:
- CSPM to monitor security and fix risky configurations.
- CWP to protect workloads on Azure and multi-cloud environments.
- DevSecOps by integrating security into development processes with Azure DevOps and GitHub.
Azure Cost Management and Azure Advisor Azure Cost Management provides tools to monitor resource usage and optimize costs, while Azure Advisor offers suggestions related to reliability, security, performance, operational excellence, and cost reduction.
Azure Arc Azure Arc extends Azure governance to on-premise and multi-cloud environments, allowing centralized and consistent management of all resources, regardless of their location, improving control and efficiency.

360° IT Governance Strategy

An effective IT governance strategy must go beyond the cloud to include on-premise and edge resources. This holistic approach ensures consistency, efficiency, and security across the entire IT ecosystem, preventing operational silos. In this context, Azure Arc plays a crucial role, extending Azure cloud management services to on-premise and edge environments. Additionally, it allows companies to apply uniform security and compliance policies to all resources, regardless of their location.

The Role of AI in IT Governance

AI is revolutionizing how organizations manage and govern IT environments, especially in hybrid and multi-cloud contexts. AI technologies help address the growing complexity and data volumes generated, offering tools that not only monitor but predict and proactively solve issues. This allows companies to make faster, more accurate decisions, improve security, optimize costs, and ensure regulatory compliance.

The following sections illustrate the main areas where AI has already introduced and will continue to bring significant innovations in Cloud Governance.

Predictive Monitoring and Analysis

AI can monitor IT resources distributed across various environments in real time, detecting anomalies or inefficiencies before they have a significant impact. Predictive analysis, one of AI’s key features, allows for the anticipation of failures or overloads, enabling proactive maintenance and more efficient resource lifecycle management. Through machine learning, these systems learn from historical data, continuously improving the accuracy of predictions and minimizing downtime.

Automating Operational Processes

AI plays a crucial role in automating repetitive and complex tasks that often require manual intervention by IT personnel. This includes automated management of cloud resources, infrastructure scalability, and service provisioning and de-provisioning. Intelligent automation reduces the risk of human errors and frees up resources for strategic tasks, improving the overall efficiency of the IT environment.

Financial Optimization

In terms of cost management, AI provides advanced tools to monitor cloud resource usage and suggest optimizations. For example, solutions like Azure Cost Management use AI algorithms to analyze consumption patterns, identify underutilized or unused resources, and offer recommendations to reduce costs. Additionally, AI helps create detailed spending forecasts and suggest dynamic resource resizing based on actual demand, ensuring efficient IT budget use.

Proactive Security and Incident Response

On the security front, AI offers advanced threat detection and response capabilities. Solutions like Microsoft Defender for Cloud use AI algorithms to analyze vast amounts of data, identify suspicious behaviors, and automatically respond to potential threats. This proactive approach allows companies to block malicious activities in real time, drastically reducing the risks of breaches and attacks. AI also facilitates the adoption of DevSecOps practices, integrating security in the early stages of application development and reducing vulnerabilities throughout the software lifecycle.

AI Integration for Innovation

Finally, AI not only optimizes operations but also acts as a catalyst for innovation. AI empowers companies to experiment with new solutions, test different scenarios, and optimize the performance of cloud applications. In DevOps and DevSecOps contexts, AI can speed up development cycles, improving efficiency and software quality while ensuring security is not compromised.

Conclusion

Hybrid and multi-cloud IT environments offer companies unprecedented opportunities for flexibility, scalability, and resource optimization. However, fully exploiting these advantages requires proactive management of challenges related to costs, security, compliance, and governance. Adopting advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and specific management tools like Azure Policy and Microsoft Defender for Cloud is crucial to maintaining control over complex and distributed environments.

Additionally, a holistic IT governance approach, encompassing on-premise, edge, and cloud resources, is essential to avoid operational silos and ensure consistency, security, and efficiency. AI, with its capabilities for automation, predictive monitoring, and optimization, not only simplifies operational management but also fosters continuous innovation, enabling companies to improve performance, reduce costs, and strengthen security in an increasingly dynamic and complex IT ecosystem.

The Importance of GPUs in the Field of Artificial Intelligence and the Innovations Introduced in Windows Server 2025

The evolution of technologies related to artificial intelligence (AI) has led to an increasing demand for computing power, essential for managing the training, learning, and inferencing of machine learning and deep learning models. In this context, GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) have established themselves as fundamental components, thanks to their ability to perform large-scale parallel computations extremely efficiently. With the upcoming releases of Windows Server 2025 and Azure Stack HCI 24H2, Microsoft introduces significant innovations that enable companies to fully harness the potential of GPUs not only in AI but beyond. These advanced new features simplify hardware resource management and provide an optimized platform for developing and deploying AI solutions on a large scale. In this article, we will explore the importance of GPUs in the AI ecosystem and analyze how the new versions of Windows Server 2025 further enhance these capabilities, transforming how companies tackle the challenges and opportunities presented by AI.

Computing Power and GPU Optimization for Deep Learning on Virtual Infrastructures

Deep learning, an advanced branch of artificial intelligence that leverages deep artificial neural networks, requires a vast amount of computing power to function effectively. Training these models involves processing large volumes of data through multiple layers of interconnected nodes, each performing complex mathematical operations. While traditional CPUs are highly powerful in sequential data processing, they are not optimized to handle a large number of parallel operations, as required by deep learning models.

In this context, GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) are particularly well-suited due to their ability to execute thousands of operations simultaneously. This makes GPUs ideal for training deep learning models, especially complex ones like convolutional neural networks (CNNs), which are widely used in image recognition. For example, training a CNN on a large dataset could take weeks on a CPU, while with the help of a GPU, the time required can be drastically reduced to just days or even hours, depending on the model’s complexity and the dataset’s size.

With the imminent release of Windows Server 2025 and Azure Stack HCI 24H2, Microsoft will offer its customers the ability to allocate an entire GPU’s capacity to a virtual machine (VM), which can run both Linux and Windows Server operating systems within a fault-tolerant cluster, thanks to Discrete Device Assignment (DDA) technology. This means that critical AI workloads for businesses can be reliably executed on a VM within a cluster, ensuring that, in the event of an unexpected failure or planned migration, the VM can be restarted on another node in the cluster using the GPU available on that node.

Microsoft recommends working closely with OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) partners and independent GPU hardware manufacturers (IHV) to plan, order, and configure the necessary systems to support the desired workloads with the right configurations and software. Additionally, if GPU acceleration via DDA is desired, it is advisable to consult with OEM and IHV partners to obtain a list of GPUs compatible with DDA. To ensure the best possible performance, Microsoft also suggests creating a homogeneous configuration for GPUs across all servers in the cluster. A homogeneous configuration implies installing the same GPU model and configuring the same number of partitions on all GPUs in the cluster’s servers. For example, in a cluster consisting of two servers each with one or more GPUs, all GPUs should be of the same model, brand, and size, and the number of partitions on each GPU should be identical.

Scalability and Flexibility of GPUs in AI Computing Architectures

In addition to their extraordinary computational speed, GPUs also offer significant advantages in terms of scalability, a crucial factor in modern AI computing architectures. Often, the datasets used to train AI models are so vast that they exceed the computational capabilities of a single processor. In these cases, GPUs allow the workload to be distributed across multiple computing units, ensuring high operational efficiency and enabling the simultaneous processing of enormous amounts of data.

Another critical aspect of GPUs is their flexibility in handling a variety of workloads, ranging from real-time inference, used for example in speech recognition applications, to the training of complex models that require weeks of intensive computation. This versatility makes GPUs an indispensable tool not only for advanced research centers but also for commercial applications that require high performance on a large scale.

GPU Partitioning: Maximizing Efficiency and Resource Utilization

One of the most significant innovations in the field of GPUs is the concept of GPU Partitioning, which is the ability to divide a single GPU into multiple virtual partitions, each of which can be dedicated to different workloads. This technique is crucial for optimizing GPU resources, as it maximizes operational efficiency while minimizing waste. In the context of artificial intelligence, where computational requirements can vary significantly depending on the models used, GPU Partitioning offers the flexibility to dynamically allocate portions of the GPU to various tasks, such as training machine learning models, real-time inference, or other parallel operations. This approach is particularly advantageous in data centers, as it allows multiple users or applications to share the same GPU resources without compromising overall system performance.

The introduction of GPU Partitioning not only improves the flexibility and scalability of computing infrastructures but also helps reduce operational costs by avoiding the need to purchase additional hardware when not strictly necessary. Additionally, this technology promotes a more balanced use of resources, preventing situations of GPU overload or underutilization, contributing to more sustainable and efficient management of AI-related operations.

With the release of Windows Server 2025 Datacenter, Microsoft has integrated and enhanced support for GPU Partitioning, allowing customers to divide a supported GPU into multiple partitions and assign them to different virtual machines (VMs) within a fault-tolerant cluster. This means that multiple VMs can share a single physical GPU, with each receiving an isolated portion of the GPU’s capabilities. For example, in the retail and manufacturing sectors, customers can perform inferences at the edge using GPU support to obtain rapid results from machine learning models, results that can be used before the data is sent to the cloud for further analysis or continuous improvement of ML models.

GPU Partitioning utilizes the Single Root IO Virtualization (SR-IOV) interface, which provides a hardware-based security boundary and ensures predictable performance for each VM. Each VM can only access the GPU resources dedicated to it, with secure hardware partitioning preventing unauthorized access by other VMs.

Another significant development concerns live migration capability for VMs using GPU Partitioning. This allows customers to balance critical workloads across various cluster nodes and perform hardware maintenance or software updates without interrupting VM operations. During a planned or unplanned migration, the VMs can be restarted on different nodes within the cluster, using available GPU partitions on those nodes.

Finally, Microsoft has made the Windows Administration Center (WAC) available to configure, use, and manage VMs that leverage virtualized GPUs, both in standalone configurations and in failover clusters. The WAC centralizes the management of virtualized GPUs, significantly simplifying administrative complexity.

Innovations and Future Prospects

The future of GPUs in artificial intelligence looks extremely promising. With the increasing complexity of AI models and the growing demand for solutions capable of leveraging real-time AI, the parallel computing power offered by GPUs will become increasingly essential. In particular, their ability to perform a large number of simultaneous operations on vast datasets makes them an indispensable component in cloud solutions.

The significant innovations in GPUs, supported by the upcoming releases of Windows Server 2025 and Azure Stack HCI 24H2, are the result of ongoing and close collaboration between Microsoft and NVIDIA. Microsoft Azure handles some of the world’s largest workloads, pushing CPU and memory capabilities to the limit to process enormous volumes of data in distributed environments. With the expansion of AI and machine learning, GPUs have become a key component of cloud solutions as well, thanks to their extraordinary ability to perform large-scale parallel operations. Windows Server 2025 will bring many benefits to the GPU sector as well, further enhancing features related to storage, networking, and the scalability of computing infrastructures.

Conclusions

The importance of GPUs in the field of artificial intelligence is set to grow exponentially, thanks to their ability to process large volumes of data in parallel with efficiency and speed. The innovations introduced in Windows Server 2025 and Azure Stack HCI 24H2 represent a significant step toward optimizing computing infrastructures, providing companies with advanced tools to manage and fully exploit GPU resources. These developments not only enhance the computing power necessary for AI but also introduce greater flexibility and scalability, essential for addressing future challenges. With the adoption of technologies like GPU Partitioning and support for live VM migration, Microsoft demonstrates its leadership in providing solutions that not only improve performance but also enhance the reliability and sustainability of AI-related business operations. The future prospects see GPUs playing an increasingly crucial role, not only in data centers but also in edge and cloud applications, ensuring that technological innovation continues to drive the evolution of AI across all sectors.

Useful References

Everything you need to know about the new OEM Licensing model for Azure Stack HCI

Microsoft recently introduced a new OEM licensing model for Azure Stack HCI, designed to simplify the licensing process and offer numerous benefits. This new model, available through major hardware vendors like HPE, Dell, and Lenovo, provides companies with an additional option to manage their Azure Stack HCI licenses. In this article, we will explore the current licensing options in detail and the features of the new OEM license, highlighting the technical aspects and benefits for users.

Existing Licensing Options

Before diving into the new OEM licensing option, it is essential to understand the currently available licensing models for Azure Stack HCI. For all details on the Azure Stack HCI cost model, you can consult this article.

Overview of the New OEM License

The new OEM licensing option for Azure Stack HCI is a prepaid license available through specific hardware vendors, such as HPE, Dell, and Lenovo. Intended for Azure Stack HCI hardware, including Premier Solutions, Integrated Systems, and Validated Nodes, this license offers a pre-installed solution that is activated in Azure and remains valid for the duration of the hardware.

The Azure Stack HCI OEM license includes three essential components:

Azure Stack HCI: The foundational platform for hybrid cloud that enables running virtualized workloads.
Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS): The container orchestration service that simplifies the management and deployment of containerized applications.
VM and guest containers: Through Windows Server Datacenter 2022, Windows Server VMs can be activated on an Azure Stack HCI cluster using generic keys for Automatic Virtual Machine Activation (AVMA), via Windows Admin Center or PowerShell.

This license ensures access to the latest versions of Azure Stack HCI and AKS, allowing for the use of unlimited VMs and containers.

OEM License Features

The features of the Azure Stack HCI OEM license are as follows:

Inclusion of Azure Stack HCI and AKS: The license includes Azure Stack HCI and Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS) with unlimited virtual CPUs. This is a significant advantage compared to the Azure Hybrid Benefit, which limits the use of AKS to the number of licensed physical cores.
Physical core licensing: Each physical core in the server must be licensed. The base license covers up to 16 cores, with additional components available in two and four core increments for systems with more than 16 cores. For example, a 36-core system requires two 16-core licenses plus an additional four-core license. This license does not support a dynamic per-core model.
Prepaid and permanent license: This license does not require annual renewals or subscriptions. It is a prepaid license that remains valid for the duration of the hardware on which the Azure Stack HCI operating system is installed.
No support for mixed nodes: Currently, this license does not support environments with mixed nodes in the same Azure Stack HCI system. For more information, it is advisable to consult the mixed node scenarios.
Non-transferable license: The license is tied to the original hardware on which the Azure Stack HCI operating system is pre-installed and cannot be transferred to different hardware or systems. This approach ensures that the license and its benefits remain specific to the initial hardware configuration.
Automatic activation: This pre-installed license does not include product keys or COA. The license is automatically activated once the device is registered in Azure. In the event of a failure requiring reinstallation, it is necessary to contact the OEM vendor.
No CAL requirements: For this specific license, no Device or User CAL is required.

Technical Details

The new OEM license is pre-installed on the hardware and automatically activates in Azure. This process eliminates the need for physical licenses or additional activation steps. When users connect Azure Stack HCI nodes to Azure, the system recognizes the OEM license and automatically activates the associated benefits.

To verify if you have an active OEM license for Azure Stack HCI, you can follow these steps:

Access the Azure portal.
Search for your Azure Stack HCI cluster.
Under the cluster, select Overview to check the billing status.
- If you have an active OEM license for Azure Stack HCI, the billing status should be OEM License, and the OEM license status should be Activated.

Figure 1 – Azure Stack HCI Billing status

For support with the Azure Stack HCI OEM license, you must first contact your OEM vendor. If support is not available from the vendor, it is advisable to open an Azure support request through the Azure portal.

Advantages of the New OEM Licensing Mechanism

The new OEM licensing option offers several significant advantages for Azure Stack HCI users:

Simplified licensing: Users do not need to manage separate licenses or worry about additional documentation. The license is embedded in the hardware, simplifying the entire process and reducing administrative complexity.
Different and more predictable cost model: By prepaying the license, users avoid recurring monthly or annual costs, which can result in significant long-term savings. Users benefit from a one-time purchase that includes hardware, software, and full support, simplifying IT resource procurement and management.
Unlimited use of AKS: The inclusion of unlimited virtual CPUs for Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS) is a substantial advantage, particularly for organizations that extensively use Kubernetes for containerized applications.
Operational efficiency: The automatic activation feature ensures that users can quickly and easily start using their Azure Stack HCI infrastructure without additional configuration or licensing steps, improving operational efficiency. Moreover, a single license covers Azure Stack HCI, AKS, and Windows Server 2022 as guest VMs, offering an integrated solution that simplifies overall license management.

Conclusion

The new OEM licensing model for Azure Stack HCI represents a new opportunity for licensing hybrid infrastructures. Through direct integration with major hardware vendors like HPE, Dell, and Lenovo, this solution offers a prepaid and permanent license, simplifying the purchasing process and reducing administrative complexity. The benefits include unlimited use of Azure Kubernetes Services, a more predictable cost model, and automatic activation that allows users to quickly start using their infrastructure. While this licensing model does not support mixed node environments and is non-transferable, it makes Azure Stack HCI an even more attractive choice for companies seeking efficiency and flexibility in managing Microsoft hybrid solutions.

The New Azure Arc Solution for Efficient Management of Multicloud Environments

Companies are increasingly adopting a multicloud approach to leverage the specific advantages offered by various cloud service providers. This strategy helps avoid vendor lock-in, improve resilience, and optimize costs by utilizing the best offers available on the market. However, managing resources distributed across multiple cloud platforms presents significant challenges, especially regarding inventory management, reporting, analysis, consistent resource tagging, and provisioning. In this article, we will examine how the Azure Arc Multicloud Connector can help overcome these challenges, offering centralized and efficient management of cloud resources.

Challenges in Multicloud Management

Managing a multicloud environment involves numerous challenges that organizations must address to ensure effective and smooth operations. Key difficulties include:

Inventory Management: Keeping track of all resources distributed across various clouds.
Reporting and Analysis: Conducting detailed reports and analysis of cloud resources.
Consistent Resource Tagging: Applying tags uniformly to resources across all cloud platforms.
Provisioning and Management Tasks: Performing provisioning and other management operations consistently across multiple clouds.

What is the Azure Arc-Enabled Multicloud Connector?

The Azure Arc-enabled Multicloud Connector is a solution that allows the connection of non-Azure public cloud resources to Azure, providing a centralized source for managing and governing cloud resources. Currently, it supports AWS as a public cloud. This connector simply uses API calls to collect and manage resources without the need to install appliances within AWS.

Figure 1 – Solution overview

NOTE: The Multicloud Connector can work alongside the AWS connector of Defender for Cloud. If desired, both connectors can be used for more comprehensive cloud resource management.

The following paragraphs describe the currently supported features: inventory and onboarding.

Inventory Features

The Inventory solution of the Multicloud Connector provides an up-to-date view of resources from other public clouds within Azure, offering a single reference point to view all cloud resources. Once the Inventory solution is enabled, the metadata of the source cloud’s resources are included in the resource representations in Azure, allowing the application of Azure tags and policies. Additionally, it enables querying all cloud resources through the Azure Resource Graph, for example, to find all Azure and AWS resources with a specific tag.

The Inventory solution regularly scans the source cloud to keep the view of resources in Azure updated.

Representation of AWS Resources in Azure

After connecting the AWS cloud and enabling the Inventory solution, the Multicloud Connector creates a new resource group using the naming convention aws_IDAccountAws. The Azure representations of AWS resources are created in this group, using the AwsConnector namespace values described earlier. Azure tags and policies can be applied to these resources. The resources discovered in AWS and projected in Azure are placed in Azure regions using a standard mapping scheme, allowing consistent management of AWS resources within the Azure ecosystem.

Periodic Synchronization Options

The periodic synchronization time selected during the Inventory solution configuration determines how frequently the AWS account is scanned and synchronized with Azure. Enabling periodic synchronization ensures that changes to AWS resources are automatically reflected in Azure. For example, if a resource is deleted in AWS, the corresponding resource in Azure will also be deleted. Periodic synchronization can be disabled during solution configuration, but this may result in an outdated representation of AWS resources in Azure.

Querying for Resources in Azure Resource Graph

Azure Resource Graph is a service designed to extend Azure resource management by providing efficient and performant resource exploration capabilities. Large-scale queries across a set of subscriptions help manage the environment effectively. Queries can be executed using the Resource Graph Explorer in the Azure portal, with query examples for common scenarios available for consultation.

Arc Onboarding Features

The Arc onboarding automatically identifies EC2 instances running in the AWS environment and installs the Azure Connected Machine agent on the VMs, allowing them to be integrated into Azure Arc. Currently, AWS EC2 instances are supported. This simplified experience allows using Azure management services, such as Azure Monitor, on these VMs, providing a centralized method for jointly managing Azure and AWS resources.

Representation of AWS Resources in Azure

After connecting the AWS cloud and enabling the Arc Onboarding solution, the Multicloud Connector creates a new resource group following the naming convention aws_IDAccountAws. When EC2 instances are connected to Azure Arc, their representations appear in this resource group. These resources are assigned to Azure regions using a standard mapping scheme. By default, all regions are scanned, but specific regions can be excluded during solution configuration.

Connectivity Method

During the Arc Onboarding solution creation, it is possible to choose whether the Connected Machine agent should connect to the Internet via a public endpoint or a proxy server. If the proxy server is chosen, the URL of the proxy server to which the EC2 instance can connect must be provided.

Periodic Synchronization Options

The periodic synchronization time selected during the Arc Onboarding solution configuration determines how frequently the AWS account is scanned and synchronized with Azure. Enabling periodic synchronization ensures that whenever a new EC2 instance that meets the prerequisites is detected, the Arc agent will be automatically installed. If preferred, periodic synchronization can be disabled during solution configuration. In this case, new EC2 instances will not be automatically integrated into Azure Arc, as Azure will not be able to scan for new instances.

Configuration and Operational Details

The initial configuration of the multicloud connector requires using the Azure portal to create the connector itself, specifying the resource group and AWS account to be integrated. Subsequently, it is necessary to download and apply the CloudFormation templates in AWS to configure the required IAM roles. Finally, it is important to configure the synchronization intervals to periodically update resource information, with a default interval of one hour.

Pricing

The Multicloud Connector is free but integrates with other Azure services that have their own pricing models. Any Azure service used with the Multicloud Connector, such as Azure Monitor, will be charged according to the specific service pricing. For more information, you can consult the official Azure cost page.

After connecting the AWS cloud, the Multicloud Connector queries the AWS resource APIs multiple times a day. These read-only API calls incur no costs in AWS but are logged in CloudTrail if a trail for read events has been enabled.

Conclusions

The Azure Arc Multicloud Connector represents an advanced and strategic solution for addressing the challenges of multicloud management. By centralizing the governance and inventory of cloud resources, companies can achieve a unified and consistent view of their distributed infrastructures. This tool not only improves operational efficiency through periodic synchronization and consistent resource tagging but also enables more secure management integrated with Azure services. Moreover, adopting the Azure Arc Multicloud Connector allows organizations to optimize costs and enhance resilience by leveraging the best offers from various cloud providers without the risk of vendor lock-in. Ultimately, this solution proves fundamental for companies aiming for efficient, innovative, and scalable multicloud management.

Announcing my eighth Microsoft MVP Award in Cloud and Datacenter Management

Hey everyone,

I’m beyond excited to share some fantastic news with you all – I’ve just received the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award for the eighth year in a row in the Cloud and Datacenter Management category!

What is the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Award?

For those who might not know, the Microsoft MVP Award is a yearly recognition given to outstanding technology community leaders from all around the world. These are folks who go above and beyond to share their expertise and help others in the tech community. MVPs actively contribute through forums, blogs, social media, and speaking engagements, providing feedback to Microsoft and sharing their knowledge with peers.

Heartfelt Thanks to Microsoft

A huge thank you to Microsoft for this incredible opportunity. The chance to directly interact with the Microsoft Product Groups has been invaluable. These teams are always ready to help us get the most out of their solutions and are genuinely interested in our feedback, which helps them continually improve Microsoft products and technologies. Their support has been a game-changer for me.

Appreciation for Fellow MVPs

I also want to give a shoutout to my fellow MVPs. Our relationships often grow beyond just professional collaboration and turn into real friendships. It’s truly an honor to work with such talented professionals from all over the globe. The knowledge exchange and shared experiences are not only inspiring but also incredibly enriching.

Leading the Growing Cloud Community

As the Community Lead for our ever-expanding Cloud Community, I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve achieved together. The Cloud Community has become a crucial hub for anyone in Italy who’s into the cloud, especially Microsoft solutions. Founded on the passion and expertise of top IT professionals, our community focuses on spreading high-quality technical content in Italian to inform, educate, and inspire.

Our mission is clear: we want to guide businesses in adopting cloud solutions. We aim to be the go-to community in Italy for all things Microsoft cloud, offering articles, guides, and insights to assist companies in their digital transformation and technological innovation.

With several Microsoft MVPs and many other industry experts among our contributors, we ensure that our content is not only current and technologically advanced but also of the highest professional quality. Our community is the perfect place to share experiences, resolve doubts, and find inspiration.

Our journey began in 2011 with the Italian System Center User Group, founded by my friend and colleague Daniele Grandini. As technology evolved and cloud solutions expanded, we broadened our focus in 2016 to include Operations Management Suite (OMS). This was a significant step towards integrating System Center solutions with public cloud technologies.

In 2019, the Italian System Center and OMS User Group transformed into the Cloud Community. Since then, we’ve continued to promote and share content on cloud management and governance, constantly expanding our horizons. Being part of the WindowServer.it team, led by my friend Silvio Di Benedetto, strengthens our presence and solidifies our role as a key reference point for all Microsoft technologies.

Commitment to Ongoing Contribution

Looking ahead, I’m committed to continuing this journey, offering my technical expertise and dedication to both Microsoft and the technical communities. I plan to keep creating content to share my knowledge with all of you through blogs, technical articles, books, and speeches. This passion for technology and the desire to share knowledge drives me forward.

Thank you all for your support, and I can’t wait to see what we’ll achieve together in the coming months.

Best regards,

Francis

Azure Arc Site Manager: the solution for managing and governing on-premises IT resources

Azure Arc Site Manager is an innovative solution for system administrators, designed to offer centralized management of IT resources, associating them with the physical or logical locations of customer infrastructures and facilitating governance of these resources. This tool simplifies connection monitoring, alert management, and resource update statuses, enabling administrators to apply fixes and updates uniformly across all resources. Azure Arc Site Manager allows for the management and monitoring of on-premises environments as Azure Arc sites, providing a tailored experience for on-premises scenarios where infrastructure is often managed within common physical boundaries, such as stores or factories. With a unified view of distributed resources, this tool becomes indispensable for improving operational efficiency and ensuring optimal control of IT resources, supporting effective and targeted governance. This article will outline the main features of this solution.

Customer Challenges

Customers often face numerous challenges in managing on-premises infrastructures, especially when dealing with different types of resources distributed across various locations. In many situations, this requires using different dashboards to monitor the status and security of resources. This fragmented approach not only complicates overall management but can also significantly reduce operational efficiency, increasing the risk of errors and delays in responding to critical issues.

Arc Site Manager Features

Arc Site Manager has been developed to address the challenges of managing IT infrastructures, offering a range of key features:

Centralized Resource Management: Provides a unified platform for managing resources associated with the physical or logical locations of customers’ IT infrastructures, allowing an overview of resources distributed across different sites.
Connection Monitoring: Simplifies monitoring connections between Azure resources, ensuring they are always operational and connected. Administrators can quickly identify resources that need attention.
Alert Management: Integrates Azure Monitor alerts, providing timely notifications regarding security issues, updates, and performance that require intervention.
Update Status: Offers an interface to monitor the update status of resources, ensuring they are always up to date with the latest patches.
Uniform Application of Fixes: Enables IT administrators to apply fixes and updates uniformly to all resources through the Arc Site Manager portal, simplifying management and reducing the risk of errors.
Customized Experiences: Provides personalized experiences using tools like Azure Monitor, Update Manager, and other services to be added in the future, allowing for targeted and specific resource management.
Logical Representation of Resources: Allows grouping of resources based on technical and business criteria, creating a logical representation consistent with the company’s needs.

IMPORTANT NOTE: These features do not replace the Azure Arc control plane but enhance it, providing a more user-friendly view of resources, useful for managing complex environments with multiple types of resources distributed across different physical sites.

Figure 1 – Solution Overview

Technical Aspects

When creating a site, it is associated with a resource group or a subscription. The Arc site automatically collects all supported resources within its scope. Arc sites have a 1:1 relationship with resource groups and subscriptions: a site can only be associated with one resource group and one subscription, and vice versa.

Figure 2 – Arc Site Manager Console

Arc Site Manager allows customers managing on-premises infrastructures to view resources based on their site or physical location. However, sites do not necessarily have to be associated with a physical location; they can be used according to customer needs, grouping resources by function or type rather than location.

For more details, I invite you to watch this video with an interesting demo.

Future Developments

Future plans for Arc Site Manager include the ability to define dynamic site scopes, multiple hierarchical levels, more detailed monitoring views, and location-based capabilities. These new features aim to further enhance user experience and IT resource management, providing even more advanced and customized tools to meet the ever-evolving needs of IT administrators.

Conclusions

Azure Arc Site Manager represents a significant step forward in the management and governance of IT resources, offering administrators a centralized solution for monitoring, updating, and maintaining on-premises infrastructure. With advanced features such as centralized resource management, connection and alert monitoring, and the ability to apply updates uniformly, Arc Site Manager significantly simplifies the management of complex and distributed environments. Future expansions of its features promise to further improve operational efficiency and response capability to emerging challenges, making this tool highly valuable for companies looking to maintain optimal control over their IT resources.

Hyper-V: Evolution, Current Innovations, and Future Developments

Since the first release of Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008, Microsoft has never ceased innovating this virtualization solution, and it has no intention of stopping. Hyper-V represents a strategic technology for Microsoft, being widely used across various areas of the IT ecosystem: from Windows Server to Microsoft Azure, from Azure Stack HCI to Windows clients and even on Xbox. This article will explore the evolution of Hyper-V from its inception, examining the current innovations that make it one of the most robust and versatile virtualization platforms available on the market today. Additionally, we will look at future developments from Microsoft for Hyper-V, discovering how this technology will help evolve the landscape of modern IT infrastructures.

The Evolution of Microsoft Virtualization: From Virtual Server to Hyper-V

Microsoft boasts a long history in virtualization, starting with the release of Microsoft Virtual Server in the early 2000s. This product was designed to facilitate the execution and management of virtual machines on Windows Server operating systems. The subsequent version, Microsoft Virtual Server 2005, introduced significant improvements in terms of management and performance, allowing companies to consolidate servers and reduce operational costs. However, this approach was still limited compared to the growing virtualization needs.

With the introduction of Windows Server 2008, Microsoft launched Hyper-V, a fully integrated virtualization solution within the operating system, marking a significant qualitative leap from Virtual Server. Hyper-V offered more robust and scalable virtualization, with support for hypervisor-level virtualization, better resource management, virtual machine snapshots, and greater integration with Microsoft’s management tools, such as System Center.

In subsequent versions of Windows Server, Hyper-V was continuously improved, introducing advanced features such as Live Migration, support for large amounts of memory and high-performance processors, and virtual machine replication for disaster recovery. These developments have consolidated Hyper-V as one of the leading virtualization platforms in the market, effectively competing with third-party solutions like VMware and Citrix.

The Present of Hyper-V: Power and Flexibility

Hyper-V is a virtualization technology that uses the Windows hypervisor, requiring a physical processor with specific features. This hypervisor manages interactions between the hardware and virtual machines, ensuring an isolated and secure environment for each virtual machine. In some configurations, virtual machines can directly access physical resources concerning graphics, network, and storage.

Hyper-V Technology in Windows Server

Hyper-V is integrated into Windows Server at no additional cost. The main difference between the Standard and Datacenter editions concerns the number of allowed guest OS instances:

Windows Server Standard: Allows up to two instances of Windows Server guest OS environments.
Windows Server Datacenter: Allows an unlimited number of Windows Server guest OS instances.

Hyper-V supports a wide range of guest operating systems, including various Linux environments such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, Debian, Oracle Linux, SUSE, and Ubuntu, with the relevant Integration Services included in the Linux kernel. Additionally, it supports FreeBSD starting from version 10.0.

Windows Server Datacenter, with Hyper-V, also provides access to advanced technologies like Storage Spaces Direct and software-defined networking (SDN), significantly enhancing virtualization and resource management capabilities.

Advantages of Hyper-V in Windows Server:

Effective Hardware Utilization: Allows server and workload consolidation, reducing the number of physical computers needed and optimizing hardware resource use.
Improved Business Continuity: Minimizes downtime through synergy with other Microsoft solutions, ensuring greater service availability and reliability.
Private Cloud Creation: Facilitates the creation and expansion of private and hybrid clouds with flexible and cutting-edge solutions.
Efficient Development and Testing Environments: Enables the reproduction of computing environments without additional hardware, making development and testing processes faster and more cost-effective.

The Hypervisor in the Azure Ecosystem

Azure uses Microsoft Hyper-V as the hypervisor system, demonstrating the importance and reliability of this technology for Microsoft itself, which continues to optimize it constantly. Hyper-V offers a range of advanced features that ensure a secure and shared virtualization environment for multiple customers. Among these, the creation of guest partitions with separate address spaces allows parallel execution of operating systems and applications relative to the host operating system. The root partition, or privileged partition, has direct access to physical devices and peripherals, sharing them with guest partitions through virtual devices. These elements ensure a secure and reliable environment for managing virtual machines on Azure.

Hyper-V: More Than Just a Virtualization Tool

Hyper-V is not only a powerful virtualization tool but also essential for ensuring the security of various environments. In fact, Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) leverages hardware virtualization and the hypervisor to create an isolated virtual environment, which acts as a “root of trust” for the operating system, even if the kernel is compromised. Windows uses this isolated environment to host various security solutions, offering them additional protection against vulnerabilities and preventing the use of exploits that might try to bypass existing protections. VBS imposes restrictions to protect vital system and OS resources, as well as safeguard security aspects like user credentials.

Hyper-V is also used for containers, offering isolation that ensures high security and greater compatibility between different host and container versions. Thanks to Hyper-V isolation, multiple container instances can run simultaneously on a host, with each container operating within a virtual machine using its own kernel. The presence of the virtual machine provides hardware-level isolation between each container and the container host.

Hyper-V and Azure Stack HCI

Azure Stack HCI and Hyper-V in Windows Server are two fundamental pillars in Microsoft’s virtualization solution offerings, each designed to meet different needs within the IT landscape. While Azure Stack HCI positions itself as the cutting-edge solution for hybrid environments, offering advanced integrations with Azure services for optimized management and scalability, Hyper-V in Windows Server remains a solid choice for organizations requiring more traditional virtualized solutions, with particular attention to flexibility and management in disconnected scenarios. The choice between these two solutions depends on specific virtualization needs, the organization’s cloud strategy, and the need for access to advanced management and security features.

In this regard, it is important to note that Azure Stack HCI is built on proven technologies, including Hyper-V, and meets advanced security requirements for virtualization thanks to integrated support for Virtualization-Based Security (VBS).

The Future of Hyper-V: Innovations and Prospects

The new version of Windows Server, named “Windows Server 2025,” is expected this fall. Although Microsoft has not yet announced an official release date, some predictions can be made based on previous release cycles. The company’s latest product, Windows Server 2022, was made available to the public on September 1, 2021. If Microsoft follows a similar schedule, it is likely that Windows Server 2025 will be released in the fall of this year. This version will include a new release of Hyper-V with significant new features.

Indeed, Hyper-V in Windows Server 2025 will introduce support for GPU Partitioning, allowing a GPU to be shared among multiple virtual machines. This feature will also ensure full support for Live Migration and cluster environments. GPU-P will also enable the Live Migration of VMs with partitioned GPUs between two standalone servers, without the need for a cluster environment, making it ideal for specific test and development environments. Additionally, improved support for Direct Device Assignment (DDA) and the introduction of GPU pools for high availability will further enhance Hyper-V’s capabilities.

Moreover, Windows Server 2025 will introduce “Workgroup Clusters,” simplifying Hyper-V deployments in various scenarios. Until Windows Server 2022, deploying a cluster required Active Directory (AD), complicating implementations in environments where an AD infrastructure was not always available. With Windows Server 2025, it will be possible to deploy “Workgroup Clusters” with Hyper-V that do not require Active Directory but use a certificate-based solution, significantly simplifying deployment.

For more information on the new features of Windows Server 2025, you can consult this article: Windows Server 2025: the arrival of a new era of innovation and security for server systems.

Conclusion

Hyper-V has proven to be a valuable and continuously evolving virtualization solution in the IT landscape. From its introduction with Windows Server 2008 to the innovations planned for Windows Server 2025, Hyper-V has maintained a prominent position thanks to the constant introduction of advanced features and improvements in performance, management, and security. New features such as GPU Partitioning and Workgroup Clusters are just a few examples of how Microsoft continues to invest in this technology to meet the increasingly complex needs of modern IT infrastructures. The integration of Hyper-V in various environments, from the hybrid cloud of Azure Stack HCI to traditional virtualization servers, demonstrates its versatility and strategic importance. Looking ahead, it is clear that Hyper-V will remain a key element in Microsoft’s virtualization and cloud computing strategies, continuing to offer robust and innovative solutions for the challenges of IT infrastructures.