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It has been just a few issues when we described the Technical Preview release of Windows Server 2016, and here we are talking about Microsoft’s next server operating system.

Windows Server 2019 maintains the solid basis of the previous release, which is Microsoft’s server OS whose diffusion has been the fastest, whose release is expected in the second semester of this year. It will be an LTSC edition (Long Term Servicing Channel), so the distribution channel will have a release update every 2/3 years, unlike the typical SAC model (ie Windows 10).

The key points of the development are four, and they come from the analysis of future trends and requests received by Microsoft from clients’ feedback channels: security, hybrid Cloud, application platforms and hyper-convergent environments.

Microsoft naturally worked a lot on the first of these aspects in order to offer a system that can face and resist to the ever growing number of threats. The security approach is based on three specific macro-areas: Protection, Identification and Response. In terms of protection, now Linux VMs can leverage Shielded VMs (introduced in Windows Server 2016), thus being protected against illicit and undesired activities. Add to that the introduction of Encrypted Networks, which will allow sysadmins to encrypt data traffic on whole network segments thus protecting the communication between nodes.

Summer holidays are getting closer and the GURU team is preparing to get its vacation time, hopefully well deserved.

We have crafted an issue with interesting content, starting with the column dedicated to Docker which covers storage and networking, going into deeper details of the technology.
After the impact of the new European regulation on privacy, the infamous GDPR, which we dedicated lots of space -and a cover as well- in the previous issues, we have done an on-the-field test of the tower server ML350 Gen9 by HPE. Gen10 is available too, yet Gen9 is still an high level product which is quite convenient provided configurations are not that extreme. A computer of this kind can be used in a SOHO environment where an Active Directory domain is required as per the GDPR compliance.

We took a look at the future with the Technical Preview of Windows Server 2019, which will be released by the end of the year and promises several improvements in terms of security, hybrid cloud, hyper-convergence and applications (the DevOps world related to containers).

But the article that got the cover of this issue is the one dedicated to a large comparative between Cloud Server services offered by the main national and international providers. We’ve tested in depth many services, not just to measure their performances, rather focusing on features and modalities offered: ease of use, interface, management and modification of instances, offerings, etc.. . The result is a very interesting comparison between big players like Google, Amazon and Microsoft, but also newer and “smaller” realities like DigitalOcean and Stellar.

So have a good read and enjoy your vacations!

In this article we will focus on services specifically dedicated to Cloud Server instances by analyzing not just performances and hardware characteristics (a topic partially covered in a previous column on GURU advisor), rather by analyzing services and features.

We have taken into consideration the main operators of the sector and compared some service macro-areas, then going into details of each: from options included with no additional costs to instance customization and available logs and alerts. The article will cover the main and most requested aspects, while tables will contain detailed information for a complete comparison.

The products

The families of products considered are two: Cloud Servers used mainly for Web applications and with monthly invoice, and more specific, powerful and effective-time invoiced instances. Amazon LightSail and DigitalOcean and RamNode dropets fall in the first category, while the second has number in the like of Google Compute Engine, Amazon EC2, Azure and OVH instances, Aruba Cloud Pro and Stellar by CoreTech.

The ML tower server family by HPE is composed by several models that cover many uses, starting with the small and convenient ML10v2 and arriving to the ML350, the top model which is actually sold as Gen9 and Gen10.

This review will cover the second-to-last generation, which is sold between €1800,00 (basic hardware) and €6000,00+ (double processor, disks and RAM excluded).
A server similar to the one we’re about to describe, which has a single Xeon E5-2620v4 processor, 32GB of memory, 2 146GB SAS disks and P440ar controller and double power supply, is sold for circa €2500,00.
Note how the great modularity of this server allows to apply several upgrade kits, for instance in the front sections up to 48 2.5” or 16 3.5” disks can be added with their cages and cooling fans.

The two last generations of HPE products have gained an extetic revision with a black main colour and a “matrix-like” pattern on the front panel with the new green HPE logo. The front panel has a locking system to protect the access to disks bays and power-on/reset buttons, but be careful about opening it only after installing the supplied stands, in order not to force the joint. The DVD reader is installed vertically: use it to install the OS, hypervisor, service packs, etc.. .