Technologies explained

Microsoft’s server operating system, from 2008 R2 to 2025, running on-premises and in Azure.

• Roles: AD DS, DNS, DHCP, file and print, IIS
• Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)
• In-place upgrades and migrations
• Azure Arc for hybrid management
• Hardening with security baselines

Best for: Running and modernising server workloads.

Microsoft’s hypervisor built into Windows Server, with clustering and replication.

• Virtual machines and virtual switches
• Failover clustering and live migration
• Hyper-V Replica
• Checkpoints and integration services

Best for: Virtualising servers on Windows infrastructure.

Enterprise virtualisation platform with ESXi hosts managed by vCenter.

• ESXi hosts and vCenter management
• vMotion and DRS
• High availability clusters
• Datastores on SAN, NAS or vSAN
• Templates and snapshots

Best for: Running large virtual server estates.

Bare-metal hypervisor often used alongside Citrix virtual apps and desktops.

• Resource pools and live migration
• XenCenter management
• Storage repositories
• GPU pass-through for virtual desktops

Best for: Environments built around Citrix delivery.

Open-source server operating systems running web, database and application workloads.

• User, group and permission management
• Package management and patching
• SSH hardening and key-based access
• Services with systemd and logs with journalctl

Best for: Supporting mixed Windows and Linux environments.

On-premises monitoring and backup for Windows server estates.

• Operations Manager (SCOM) monitoring and alerting
• Data Protection Manager (DPM) backups
• Management packs
• Integration with Azure services

Best for: Monitoring and protecting on-premises datacentres.