Explore how Xbox drives efficiency using Windows Server and SQL Server on Azure
Want to avoid spending your weekends patching servers? The new Hotpatch feature in Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition addresses this issue—it can reduce many IT headaches including reboot failures and coordinating multitier workloads. It boosts productivity and end-user uptime and can decrease the vulnerability window that would happen if an update is postponed.
To demonstrate how Hotpatching works, we’ve employed an example from our own Xbox team. In this post, you’ll learn how Microsoft has been using Hotpatch with Windows Server 2022 Azure Edition to significantly decrease downtime for SQL Server databases running on Windows Server Azure virtual machines on a critical set of backend services for the Xbox network.
Windows Server 2022
Run business-critical workloads in Azure, on-premises, and at the edge.
What is Hotpatch?
Hotpatch for Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition enables application of every month’s “patch Tuesday” security updates, but doesn’t necessitate the server operating system to restart two out of three months.
While Hotpatch has been available on the Server Core option of Windows Server 2022 Azure Edition for some time, it has just become available in summer 2023 for the more popular Desktop Experience option. You can see a demo of it in this on-demand session from Ignite.
Here’s what’s great about it:
- Higher availability and fewer restarts.
- Faster deployment of updates as the packages are smaller, install quicker, and have simpler patch orchestration using Azure Update Management.
- Better protection as the Hotpatch update packages are limited to Windows security updates that install faster without restarting.
When you enable Hotpatch, a base Cumulative Update is applied to the server. This update does require a restart. After this point, your team can update smoothly, with fewer restarts, which can significantly reduce any vulnerability window. Check out this release documentation for details on the Hotpatch calendar.
How the Xbox network team uses Hotpatch
The Xbox network depends on several critical backend services hosted in SQL Server databases running on Windows Server Azure virtual machines. There are 18 different services hosted in this way, with some services handled by two SQL Servers and others up to 120 SQL Servers. Some of these workloads have been in production for 15 years.
Of course, when you’re operating backend services for a group of enthusiastic gamers like Xbox network customers, it is imperative to patch and restore services with minimal downtime.
Approximately 1,000 servers hosting these services started their journey on physical hardware when the services were first deployed, and more than 15 years later, they are now running in Azure hosted as infrastructure as a service (IaaS) Virtual Machines (VMs). According to senior service engineer Tim Dreyling, the team found it “significantly easier to manage Windows Server on Azure VMs, over relying on data center support to handle ‘machine’ issues.”
Once the backend Xbox network services migrated from the earlier version of Windows Server 2022 Azure Edition to the version that supported Hotpatch, the team went from an update cycle every month that could take weeks of careful orchestration to being able to apply Hotpatch updates across a fleet of nearly 1,000 servers in less than 48 hours two months out of every three.
“As a database administrator (DBA) this is the biggest thing to increase our service reliability and uptime since SQL Server Availability Groups were introduced with SQL Server 2012,” says Tim.
Hotpatch with Windows Server 2022 Datacenter Azure Edition isn’t just used with SQL Server with Xbox network backend services, but also on IaaS VMs running Active Directory DS Domain Controllers and VMs hosting web services roles.
Whilst your services may not be as complex and large-scale as the Xbox network, we believe you’ll quickly see the Hotpatch advantage of minimizing reboot downtimes while ensuring the services you host are reliable, protected, and available.
Hotpatch is currently available on Azure Edition (see below for details), but the team has more innovations in progress, and many ways to access cloud innovation in your hybrid cloud environment by connecting your servers to Azure Arc.
In case you missed joining us at Ignite, you can watch two Windows Server-focused sessions on-demand. These talks cover Hotpatching and the Xbox example above, as well as numerous new and upcoming features for our Windows Server and SQL Server customers:
If you’re interested in being hands-on and trying what’s coming next for Windows Server, you can get early access to the latest features in progress by joining the Windows Insider program.
Learn more about Windows Server and Hotpatch
- Try the latest versions of SQL Server and Windows Server 2022 on Azure.
- Learn more about Hotpatch for Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition in the documentation and this blog post.
- Download the image here to get the new edition with Hotpatch (Azure account required).