- [Instructor] This course has been about
Windows Server 2019, the latest release
in the long-term service channel of Windows Server.
These long-term service releases have the advantage
of being supported by Microsoft
for several years rather than the 18-month lifecycle
of the semi-annual releases.
But these long-term releases benefit greatly
from the semi-annual release channel.
Improvements to the subsystem for Linux,
Storage Spaces Direct, containers,
and many other server components have been developed
and deployed in these semi-annual releases.
The community of administrators, developers,
and DevOps then have the opportunity to weigh in on whether
or not the features are meeting their needs
and expectations before these various features
from all the semi-annual releases get rolled up
and added into the next long-term release,
like Windows Server 2019.
The difference between the long-term service release
and the semi-annual channel give different opportunities.
You may choose to keep all of your production servers
on these long-term service channel releases
because of their stability and long-term support.
Or you may choose to introduce
as many semi-annual release servers as you can
to receive access to new features as quickly as possible.
If you have a large environment with lots of servers,
each performing specific tasks,
you may likely find a way to use both.
Domain controllers likely need the stability
of a long-term service release.
As do other database roles, like a certificate authority.
Even with the introduction of the Storage Migration Service,
file servers are less likely to benefit from lots
of new features, and so they are also more likely candidates
for the long-term service release channel.
Other involved roles that we've talked about in this course
also would do well to be on a server
that they can stay installed and configured on
for a longer period of time.
But on the other hand, developers are always looking
to what happens next.
They benefit immensely from being able
to develop their applications in an environment
that has access to the newest features possible.
Any development projects, whether it's a container
application or something being deployed in a virtual server,
is going to benefit from having access
to those features as soon as possible.
The semi-annual releases of Server are great for them.
The frequent upgrades would be more
of a help than a hindrance to them.
And their servers are not likely
to be running the server roles
that don't survive in place upgrades.
Make sure as you plan semi-annual release servers
in your network that they're regularly backed up,
not just the files on the servers,
but the configurations as well.
Also, consider using the various cloud repositories
for developer projects.
Container images can be stored in private repositories
at GitHub or on-site.
And for many of the roles that you count on
from Windows Servers, it may be a good idea
to use the semi-annual releases for testing
and for future planning, allowing you to try out
what's coming next in the role
before you deploy it into production.
You can keep the production installation
of these mission-critical tasks on your long-term
service release machines, but go ahead and test them.
Test your operations, test your development projects,
test your DevOps procedures in these
semi-annual release servers
that deliver all the latest features as quickly as possible.