The latest version of Windows Server superseding Windows Server 2016. Microsoft made it simple to upgrade directly to Windows Server 2019 from Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2016. Older server versions can also easily migrate to Windows Server 2019 with Microsoft's Storage Migration Service. The Windows 10 desktop replaced the Windows 8 desktop used in the previous server version (see
Windows Server 2016).
Seamless Hybrid Operations
Windows Server 2019 uses the same tools for both inhouse and cloud-based applications making hybrid management easier.
Greater Security
Numerous security features were enhanced including shielded VMs that do not require the Host Guardian Service introduced with Windows Server 2016 (see
Host Guardian Service). Windows 10 intrusion protection was also added, and all traffic between VMs can be encrypted.
More Flexibility
Windows Server 2019 features support for Linux, enhanced support for containers and Kubernetes as well as Red Hat's OpenShift containers. There are major enhancements to software-defined networking (SDN) and hyperconverged configurations. See
software-defined networking and
hyperconverged infrastructure.