Windows Server 2019

[glenimp617]

We've only just finished moving all our servers to 2016, but wondered if anyone has put 2019 into production yet?

Installed it on a test server so we can get a feel for it.

I'd love to hear from anyone running it as a clustered node.

Thanks!!

 

[TechMinerUK]

We've only just finished moving all our servers to 2016, but wondered if anyone has put 2019 into production yet?
Installed it on a test server so we can get a feel for it.
I'd love to hear from anyone running it as a clustered node.
Thanks!!

Not in production yet but also running a test at home and so for there is no way I would let it anywhere near a production environment. I don't have a cluster but I do have an NPS server which on the latest version appears to be break when the firewall is enabled as the MS default rules don't work.

However running it has a Hyper-V host I've yet to come across any major issues (Even Veeam seems to work with it without any problems)

 

[glenimp617]

Not in production yet but also running a test at home and so for there is no way I would let it anywhere near a production environment. I don't have a cluster but I do have an NPS server which on the latest version appears to be break when the firewall is enabled as the MS default rules don't work.

However running it has a Hyper-V host I've yet to come across any major issues (Even Veeam seems to work with it without any problems)

I admit I am reluctant, and will wait a good few months after solid testing. It's based on the 1809 update for a start, which as we all know was/is a disaster.

 

[TechMinerUK]

I admit I am reluctant, and will wait a good few months after solid testing. It's based on the 1809 update for a start, which as we all know was/is a disaster.

Exactly and the worst bit is I've logged the bugs with MS and they don't seem to acknowledge them, their QA is completely abysmal for the purpose of the product (I'm sure it's so they can push their "Cloud Services")

 

[paradigm]

I was looking at rolling out a production cluster using S2D on 2019, only to find that during testing the feature isn't actually available out of the box and will be coming with a future release.

Back to 2016 for me for the time being then! On the plus side I did manage to successfully use the update route from 2016 to 2019 during this test, so that's nice at least.

 

[glenimp617]

I was looking at rolling out a production cluster using S2D on 2019, only to find that during testing the feature isn't actually available out of the box and will be coming with a future release.

Back to 2016 for me for the time being then! On the plus side I did manage to successfully use the update route from 2016 to 2019 during this test, so that's nice at least.

What do you use storage spaces for? I know Microsoft will tell you it, and hyperconvergence is the end of traditional sans but I can't see it myself.

 

[paradigm]

What do you use storage spaces for? I know Microsoft will tell you it, and hyperconvergence is the end of traditional sans but I can't see it myself.

It’s going to be a prod/live trial (non critical systems) for Hyper-V, I’m also not sold on replacing “traditional” storage but the powers that be have a bee in their bonnet about trialling it in a live environment, so that’s where we are.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

Don’t do it, their desktops need to be sorted first before anyone even thinks about moving their servers to 2019. If you do good luck with endless problems.

 

[glenimp617]

It’s going to be a prod/live trial (non critical systems) for Hyper-V, I’m also not sold on replacing “traditional” storage but the powers that be have a bee in their bonnet about trialling it in a live environment, so that’s where we are.

No worries, I kinda understand the concept but I still prefer handing over the storage stuff to a proper san. Would you really trust windows with managing your data? I myself had a nightmare with refs on clustered volumes, it was a total nightmare. Had to go through the pain of moving them back to ntfs. Performance just dropped through the floor.

My compellent is getting 2:1 dedupe, snapshots, tiering, great iops....not sure I'd ever want to get rid of it.

Will you use windows core edition?

 

[Throrik]

We're sticking with 2016 for now, waiting a few releases in for 2019 for the most part, although I imagine a good chunk of our Azure stuff will end up 2019 quicker than our traditional DC VMs. Hoping to get a HCI Solution in before having to do another VM OS refresh.

 

[Lanz]

We haven't even gone to 2016 in bulk. The patching is too awful, it randomly takes forever to apply updates,

 

[Little_Crow]

The patching is too awful, it randomly takes forever to apply updates,

I know what you mean, The time a server takes to shutdown after patching is ridiculous, the trusted installer service sits at stopping for an absolute age before the server restarts.

That, in theory, is something that's been fixed in 2019 - At this point with very few patches it's hard to test the veracity of that, but my testing so far 'feels' quicker.

 

[Lanz]

We'll have to bit the bullet at some point, probably have to change the WSUS policies and schedules if servers take hours to update. Still too early for 2019, but yeah i heard it updates better.

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

We haven't even gone to 2016 in bulk. The patching is too awful, it randomly takes forever to apply updates,

Up until a few months ago we couldn't install cumulative updates on 2016 servers with a GUI, only on core. Had to use sconfig to get them to install.

Updates are a complete and utter mess on every single O/S now.

 

[glenimp617]

We haven't had any issues with updates on either windows 10 nor server 2016? We are using the latest SCCM though which may be why?

In fact, one of the reasons for moving to 2016 was the better (more accurate) patch level reporting from SCCM. In 2012, reporting on the overall health of the network was a nightmare. It would mark a server down as being non compliant due to not containing an update, yet that update was not applicable to the server lol

In 2016 it's nigh on perfect, and haven't had any issues with getting them installed either. Yes, sometimes they take a while but we have maintenance plans in place which do all this during the night.

 

[Lanz]

Hmm i believe SCCM still sends the same update packs as WSUS, it still sometimes takes forever to update. Some people don't care or even know that their servers goes offline for 40 mins for a simple monthly rollup. Are you saying all your 2016 servers come back in about 5 mins like a 2012R2 server does?

 

[glenimp617]

Hmm i believe SCCM still sends the same update packs as WSUS, it still sometimes takes forever to update. Some people don't care or even know that their servers goes offline for 40 mins for a simple monthly rollup. Are you saying all your 2016 servers come back in about 5 mins like a 2012R2 server does?

No, not five minutes lol they do take a while....but they always work and report back properly. Good to hear 2019 is quicker although I do get the inpression where going round in circles with Microsoft somewhat.
2008 slow, 2012 fast, 2016 slow, 2019 fast.

Most of our servers are clusterered so losing a single node for a while isn't really much of an issue.

 

[Yaayuh!]

I'm sticking with 2016 for now, just setting one up this week actually, and another in a couple of weeks.

I'm going use 2019 as the base for a new DC however later in the year.

 

[ZedPowered]

Using a few 2019 servers in prod now. Updates no longer take a bazillion years. Not really noticed too much difference other than that from 2016.

 

[TechMinerUK]

Using a few 2019 servers in prod now. Updates no longer take a bazillion years. Not really noticed too much difference other than that from 2016.

What services/roles are you using 2019 for if you don't mind me asking?