Microsoft Windows Server 2025 has been released two months ago and has a lot of new features. But do you know Azure Arc can add more features and capabilitiers to your Windows Server?
Azure Arc simplifies governance and management by delivering a consistent multicloud and on-premises management platform.
Azure Arc provides a centralized, unified way to:
- Manage your entire environment together by projecting your existing non-Azure and/or on-premises resources into Azure Resource Manager.
- Manage virtual machines, Kubernetes clusters, and databases as if they are running in Azure.
- Use familiar Azure services and management capabilities, regardless of where your resources live.
- Continue using traditional ITOps while introducing DevOps practices to support new cloud native patterns in your environment.
- Configure custom locations as an abstraction layer on top of Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes clusters and cluster extensions.
Windows Server Management enabled by Azure Arc offers customers with Windows Server licenses that have active Software Assurances or Windows Server licenses that are active subscription licenses the following key benefits:
Benefit | Supported Operating Systems | Description |
---|---|---|
Azure Update Manager | Windows Server 2012 and above | Assess the update status and deploy updates to machines (one off, recurring, maintenance windows) with visibility into update compliance and auditing. |
Azure Change Tracking and Inventory | Windows Server 2012 and above | Discovery of and changes of software, services/daemons, files, and registries of Azure Arc-enabled servers. |
Azure Machine Configuration | Windows Server 2012 and above | Configuration of machine properties for OS, app, and environment settings, with Azure Policy. Available natively with the Azure Connected Machine agent. |
Windows Admin Center in Azure for Arc | Windows Server 2025 only | Securely manage hybrid machines from anywhere without needing a VPN, public IP address, or other inbound connectivity to your machine with RDP, Hyper-V management, event viewer, and much more. |
Remote Support | Windows Server 2025 only | Offers customers with professional support the ability to grant JIT access with detailed execution transcripts and revocation rights. |
Network HUD | Windows Server 2025 only | A host networking diagnostics and operational tool. Runs spot checks, health checks, and cluster wide checks to make sure your host networking set-up is healthy and set up in an optimal and expected way. |
Best Practices Assessment | Windows Server 2025 only | Collection and analysis of server data to generate issues and remediation guidance and performance improvements. |
Azure Site Recovery Configuration | Windows Server 2016 and above | Configuration of Azure Site Recovery to ensure business continuity, provides replication and data resilience for critical workloads. |
On this Linkedin post there is also this nice recap table:
