Windows Server IoT 2025 is now generally available. Performance improvements and speed gains are the magic words. This version of the OS is suitable for edge computing and all kinds of network configurations to benefit industrial equipment, diagnostic tools in healthcare, retail applications and other areas where that speed is more than welcome.
This new release is suitable for managing intensive on-premises AI workloads and provides more peripheral management capabilities. For example, Windows Server IoT 2025 has built-in support for GPU partitioning and provides more robust data processing in distributed environments of networked devices.
More efficient processing of workloads
These enhancements promise more efficient processing of on-premises workloads and complex data analysis at the network edge. Most of all, it should all happen faster: latency will be lower, and real-time decision-making will happen faster.
When it comes to NVMe Storage IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second), or the amount of operations per second, the efficiency improvements of this new version of the server OS offer a 70 percent performance improvement. That’s at least compared to its 2022 predecessor when running on identical hardware.
Native ReFS deduplication and compression
That performance gain comes in part from the integration of technologies such as Native ReFS deduplication and compression, which offer storage optimization and reduce the chance of data corruption. The OS also offers Thinly Provisioned Storage Spaces and Storage Replica Compression. It’s quite a mouthful, but it boils down, albeit a bit simplified, to efficient, space-saving data storage. That’s important for peripherals that manage large data volumes but must maintain speedy service at the same time.
This OS features upgrades to Hyper-V, Microsoft’s platform for virtualization. It now supports up to 2048 virtual processors and 240 TB of memory. Security has also been significantly improved. Active Directory now includes advanced encryption and cryptographic support to defend against novel threats.
Safer access to shares
Improvements to File Services, such as SMB over QUIC, make internet access to file shares more secure and reduce the threat posed by brute force and relay attacks. In addition, Delegate Managed Service Accounts (dMSAs) streamline password management and increase the visibility of service account activity.
Microsoft is launching a new version of its storage measurement and performance tool Diskspd at the same time as Windows Server IoT 2025, which should give system administrators more tools to monitor this OS’ performance.
Also read: Microsoft releases empty preview build of Windows Server 2025