Syncs Schedule With Windows 10, Office 365 For Twice-a-year Upgrade Madness
Last week, Microsoft declared changes to how it will deal out upgrades for Windows Server, a move prompted, one analyst said, by customers' calls for a set release schedule -- just as enterprises made the case for reliable Windows 10 and Office 365 release dates.
Microsoft, not surprisingly, couched it differently, with a manager calling the decision necessary so businesses can "innovat[e] quickly" by leveraging "new operating system capabilities at a faster pace."
Whatever the ultimate motive for the modifications, the result should be familiar to IT administrators dabbling in Windows 10 or on top of recent news about Office 365. That doesn't mean there aren't questions. And answers.
What's the schedule for Windows Server updates?? Spring and fall, annually, Microsoft said, implying that, like Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus, Windows Server would be refreshed each March and September.
Previously, Microsoft Windows Server 2016's Nano installation option was released two or three times a year under a Windows 10-esque "Current Branch for Business" (CBB) release tempo. Until recently, that was the professed cadence for Windows 10.
Why the shift?
According to Microsoft, the decision was driven by "the accelerating pace of change."
Some customers, said Erin Chapple, a Windows Server general manager, in a post to a company blog, wanted a quick iteration to new features in the operating system. "IT executives often ask me how Windows Server is evolving to meet this new reality and how they can leverage new innovation at the pace their business needs," Chapple wrote.
But that doesn't make much sense: Before the scheduling announcement, Microsoft was already delivering multiple upgrades annually to Server in the form of the Nano option.
What is the real reason? Directions to Microsoft analyst Jim Gaynor confirmed that the customers had made the decision. But he argued that they told Microsoft it needed to bolster publishing data, for the same reason that companies urged the company to put Windows 10 on a regular, well-known release plan.
"They told Microsoft, 'We need a reliable cadence,'" Gaynor said, pointing out that the two to three times a year updates were not nailed. The Helter-Skelter schedule that Microsoft hoped to leverage, with flexible publishing data and builds sent only when certain features were completed, was too uncertain for companies.
Those kinds of complaints triggered responses from Microsoft, which in turn had an interesting side effect: The company has been on a product release synchronization binge, with Windows 10 and then Office 365 ProPlus put on the same timetable. Now, add Windows Server to the mix.
"Starting this fall, we plan to deliver two feature updates per year, each spring and fall, aligning to the Windows and Office Semi-annual Channel release cycle," Chapple said.
What gets upgraded? More than before.
Along with firming up the schedule, Microsoft announced that it will issue twice-yearly upgrades for both Nano installations and those configured as Server Core. Previously, only Nano was upgraded on a rapid cadence.
"Server Core will now be included in the Semi-annual Channel," said Chapple. "Server Core is a 'headless' installation option of the operating system that includes all the roles and features needed to run datacenter servers and containerized traditional applications."
When Nano was updated two to three times a year, Microsoft said it would only support two consecutive builds: the latest or "N" and its predecessor, or "N-1." If N was replaced by its successor "N + 1", the support for N-1 would dry up.
Under this scheme, with an upgrade rate of three times a year, support could be as short as eight months. A twice-yearly pace means that the support will last 12 months.
Like Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus, each Windows Server Interim upgrade is supported for 18 months, which is an increase of about 50%. This extra time, Chapple said, will allow companies to "skip one of the bi-annual releases and wait for an upgrade until the next release."
Figure 1 shows the start and end dates for this fall's upgrade.
Did Microsoft also change the labels it uses for Windows Server refreshes?
Yes. In another step toward compliance, Microsoft redesigned the terminology for the Windows Server "Tracks" version.
The easiest way to understand the new term is to use a table as follows:
The traditional release model with a new version of Windows Server that ships every two or three years stays in place, but gets a name. Formerly called the "Long-term Servicing Branch" (LTSB) to mimic the least-changed version of Windows 10, it is now called the "long-term maintenance channel" or LTSC.
Windows Server 2016, which debuted last year, is the current LTSC. It is supported by the standard 5 + 5 scheme, with five years of mainstream support and another five years of extended support. The first expires on January 11, 2022, while the latter is exhausted on January 11, 2027.
However, customers who are willing to pay for the privilege can receive support for another sixteen years during the usual decade for another 16 years. The new "Premium Assurance" licensing option was introduced in December. Depending on when the customer buys the business, each additional year is between 5% and 12% of the current license cost.
When will Microsoft release the six-monthly Channel Upgrade for Windows Server? The company said the updates will ship in the spring and fall, but also notes that March and September would be the designated months, using examples like 1709 and 1803 as a label. (For example, in Microsoft's Lexicon, releases for Windows 10 are numbered as yymm, and these examples would correlate with September 2017 and March 2018, respectively.)
It is unclear whether Microsoft will make upgrades on the same days in September and March, which are the most likely release points for Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus: Patch Tuesday every month. If Windows Server follows the example, the first upgrade will be on September 12, and the next will be on March 13, 2018.
Figure 2 shows the first two releases and their support lifecycles, and illustrates how the two overlaps are supported for a 12-month period.
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