Microsoft has officially launched Windows Server 2025, marking a significant milestone in its server operating system lineup. This latest iteration will be generally available starting Friday, November 1st, following its initial release to Windows Insider program participants in January 2024. The new version brings a host of innovative features, including hotpatching, next-gen Active Directory, and the introduction of SMB over QUIC alternative ports, which allows users to switch from the default SMB over QUIC UDP/443 port to any other port.
Key Enhancements and Features
Windows Server is accessible through two main channels: the Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) featuring Windows Server 2025 and the Annual Channel (AC) associated with Windows Server, version 23H2. Ian LeGrow, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for Azure Edge + Platform, emphasized the comprehensive advancements in this release, stating, “Windows Server 2025 delivers major advancements across the board for Hyper-V, GPU integration, Storage Spaces Direct, software-defined networking, and clustering.”
For organizations seeking robust virtualization solutions or those eager to harness AI and machine learning capabilities while ensuring high performance and scalability, Windows Server 2025 emerges as a compelling choice.
The new version boasts an impressive array of capabilities, including:
- Hotpatching enabled by Azure Arc: This feature offers cloud customers enhanced security through automatic software updates and backup and recovery options.
- NVMe storage performance: Users can expect up to 60% more storage IOPs performance compared to Windows Server 2022 on identical systems.
- Block cloning support: Utilizing the ReFS file system format, this functionality significantly enhances performance when copying files.
- New Active Directory functionalities: Enhancements include AD object repair, an optional 32k database page size, and improved security for confidential attributes and default machine account passwords.
- Credential Guard: This feature is enabled by default for compliant devices, safeguarding against credential theft by protecting NTLM password hashes and Kerberos Ticket Granting Tickets.
- File services/server message block (SMB) hardening: The inclusion of SMB over QUIC ensures secure access to file shares over the Internet, complemented by hardened firewall defaults and protections against various attack vectors.
- Delegate Managed Service Accounts (dMSA): Unlike traditional service accounts, dMSAs eliminate the need for manual password management, as AD automates this process.
- Accelerated Networking (AccelNet): This feature simplifies the management of single root I/O virtualization for virtual machines, utilizing a high-performance data path to reduce latency and CPU utilization.
- DTrace: As a native tool, DTrace enables real-time monitoring and troubleshooting of system performance.
- Virtualization-based security (VBS) enclaves: Designed to protect application secrets, VBS enclaves enhance security by minimizing trust in administrators and fortifying defenses against malicious attacks.
- Windows Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS): This tool automatically generates unique passwords for local administrator accounts, securely storing them in AD and regularly updating them to bolster security.
Despite the excitement surrounding its launch, Microsoft has acknowledged ongoing investigations into several known issues affecting Windows Server 2025 devices. Among these are bugs leading to installation failures and Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) errors for systems equipped with more than 256 logical processors. Additionally, users may encounter boot issues in iSCSI environments, with reports of “boot device inaccessible” errors. Microsoft has also noted that some installation media may display English text during setup, regardless of the selected language.
Looking ahead, Windows Server 2025 is set to reach its end of support on October 10th, 2029, with extended support concluding five years later on October 10th, 2034. For those interested in exploring the new features, a free 180-day trial is available through the Microsoft Evaluation Center.
