Deep trust of enterprises
Take advantage of unmatched security, seamless hybrid operations, and cost savings on the best cloud for Windows Server by joining the startups, governments, and Fortune 500 customers who run Windows Server on Azure.
Unmatched security
Help protect against threats using the built-in, cloud-native security features of Windows Server on Azure, which has the most compliance offerings of any public cloud. Get unified, powerful threat protection for your on-premises and cloud workloads with the platform-level security and governance features of Azure Security Center. With Security Center, you get the support of:
- More than 3,500 cybersecurity professionals.
- USD 1 billion in annual security investment.
- 6.5 trillion threat signals analyzed daily.
Unbeatable offers
See how the cost savings add up with Azure:
Compare Azure vs. AWS
- AWS is 5 times more expensive than Azure for Windows Server and SQL Server.
- Azure matches AWS pricing for comparable services.
Get three years of free security updates only in Azure
Extended support for Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 will end on January 14, 2020, but receive three more years of security updates at no additional charge when you migrate to Azure.
Save by bringing your on-premises licenses to the cloud
Save up to 80 percent* by taking your existing on-premises Windows Server licenses with you to Azure and by reserving your resources in advance. Estimate your cost savings.
Seamless hybrid operations
Operate seamlessly across your on-premises datacenter and the cloud with Azure, the only cloud with end-to-end hybrid infrastructure and consistent security, identity, and management features:
- Set up a consistent identity system to support your hybrid strategy with Azure Active Directory, which is used by 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies.
- Take advantage of backup, monitoring, disaster recovery, and cloud storage when you connect your on-premises servers to Azure using Windows Admin Center.
- Connect to more than 2.5 million hybrid-enabled Windows Servers through Windows Admin Center.
Unparalleled innovation
Modernize your apps with more than 100 Azure services. Get unique, built-in resource management and governance solutions when you use Windows Server on Azure. Always have the latest SQL Server capabilities in the cloud with an evergreen SQL database that requires no patching or upgrading from you.
Estimate the cost savings of migrating your Windows workloads to Azure
Compare the total costs of running Windows Server on-premises versus on Azure
Join customers who are transforming their business with Windows Server on Azure
Ralph Feltis, Senior Software Engineer, Alaska Airlines"With Azure, we scale when needed and avoid huge overprovisioning costs."
Ashish Modi, Senior Software Developer, Allscripts"Visual Studio Tools for Xamarin has really given us the ability to enforce a common UI look and feel for apps throughout the corporation—something that seems small but is very important."
Tencent delivers seamless, play-as-you-go updates to gamers by working with Microsoft Server Fabric to take advantage of modern microservices architecture.
Tom Phillips, Vice President of Data and Infrastructure, Ambit Energy"Other cloud providers told us that this kind of hybrid-cloud architecture was impossible to construct, but with Microsoft, we not only accomplished it but did so in a very performant way that wasn't all that complicated to set up."
Accelerate your Windows Server migration with experienced partners
Learn more
- E-book: The Ultimate Guide to Windows Server on Azure
- Azure Migration Guide for Windows Server
- Webinar: Add the Power of Microsoft Azure to Your Windows Server Workloads
- Video: Application Modernization with Microsoft Azure
- Azure Windows Virtual Machines documentation
- Windows N-tier application on Azure with SQL Server documentation
- Free Azure training from Pluralsight
- Read the latest Azure blog posts
Free account
Get $200 in Azure credits and 12 months of popular services—free
Get started
Get started with Windows Server on Azure
* Does not include Software Assurance cost. Sample annual cost comparison of two D2V3 Windows Server VMs. Savings based two D2V3 VMs in US West 2 Region running 744 hours/month for 12 months; Base compute rate at SUSE Linux Enterprise rate for US West 2. Azure pricing as of April 24, 2018. Price subject to change. The 80% of saving is based on the combined cost of Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server and 3-year Azure Reserved Instance. Actual savings may vary based on location, instance type, or usage.