Windows Server 2025 Software Defined Datacenter: Networking Deployment Series (1/6)

Deploying Windows Server 2025 Clusters with Edge Networking Solutions Part 1: How Network ATC Simplifies Host Networking at Contoso Medical Center 

In today's digital era, a reliable and secure network is the foundation of any modern organization—including our fictitious customer, Contoso Medical Center. If you're on a similar journey, deploying and harnessing the power of Windows Server 2025 Software Defined Datacenter (SDDC) to build a next-generation environment for your VMs and applications, you’re in the right place. 

No need to navigate this transformation alone! We’re here to guide you through six essential steps to networking success—demonstrating how Contoso Medical Center is: 

🔹 Part 1: Building a rock-solid Host Network platform with Network ATC 

🔹 Part 2: Continuously monitoring operational network issues with Network HUD (In       

       Private Preview) 

🔹 Part 3: Deploying a modern Software Defined Networking (SDN) stack with Native SDN 
🔹 Part 4: Fortifying VM security with built-in SDN network protection 
🔹 Part 5: Supercharging mission-critical VMs with Accelerated Networking 
🔹 Part 6: Ensuring seamless connectivity between multiple clusters with SDN Multisite 

 

Follow along as we break down each step, helping you optimize your own deployment with Windows Server 2025! 

We are Contoso Medical Center, a rapidly expanding healthcare provider that relies on cutting-edge technologies to enhance patient care, streamline administrative processes, and improve overall operational efficiency. We have heard about many new innovations in Windows Server 2025 and are eager to try it out. Our IT team is particularly concerned about the networking setup; In the past, we have had connectivity issues due to storage networks not being configured correctly. We have also had incidents where some members of the team unknowingly wiped out some configuration, causing outages. As we prepare to deploy our Windows Server 2025 clusters, we are looking for the best possible solution to setup our host network —one that is fast, reliable, automated, and aligned with Microsoft’s best practices.   

Enter Network ATC!!! 

Why Network ATC? 

Deploying and managing host networking for clusters has traditionally been a manual, complex, and error-prone process. With Network ATC, we can automate network configurations across our servers while ensuring they adhere to Microsoft’s best practices. 

The key advantages for Contoso Medical Center’s IT team include: 

Consistency – Ensures uniform networking across all nodes in a cluster. 
Automation – Reduces the need for manual configurations. 
Self-healing – Detects and corrects misconfigurations automatically. 
Microsoft Best Practices – Always aligned with the latest recommendations from Microsoft. 

Managing Network ATC via Windows Admin Center 

One of the biggest improvements in managing Network ATC is its integration with Windows Admin Center. Previously, configuring cluster networking required PowerShell scripts and deep networking expertise. Now, through an intuitive UI-based approach, we can define and manage Network ATC intents directly from the Windows Admin Center dashboard. 

By leveraging this feature, we can: 

• Deploy new clusters faster with pre-defined networking intents. 

• Easily monitor and troubleshoot network configurations. 

• Modify network settings dynamically without disrupting workloads. 

Learn more about Network ATC in Windows Admin Center 

Network ATC end to end demo

Migrating Existing Clusters to Network ATC 

At Contoso, we aren’t just deploying new Windows Server 2025 clusters, we also need to bring existing clusters into the modern era. Network ATC makes this possible through its migration capabilities. 

With the latest tools, we can: 
🔹 Seamlessly transition existing clusters to Network ATC-managed configurations. 
🔹 Ensure minimal downtime during migration. 
🔹 Standardize networking policies across all deployments. 

The result? A unified and efficient networking environment, whether we’re working with new or legacy clusters. 

Step-by-step migration guide 

Scaling Out: Deploying Hundreds of Clusters in Minutes 

As Contoso expands its data center operations, we need a way to quickly deploy and manage networking across multiple clusters. Network ATC shines in large-scale deployments by reducing deployment time from hours or days to mere minutes. 

By leveraging intent-based networking, we can: 

Deploy hundreds of clusters at once with consistent network configurations. 
Ensure all clusters follow the same networking policies without manual effort. 
Reduce human errors and misconfigurations with automation. 

This is a game-changer for our IT operations, allowing us to scale without worrying about network inconsistencies. 

How to deploy at scale 

Final Thoughts: Why Network ATC is a Must-Have for Contoso 

By integrating Network ATC into our Windows Server 2025 cluster deployment strategy, Contoso Medical Center’s IT team is: 

Simplifying network management across all clusters. 
Improving reliability and uptime with self-healing network configurations. 
Reducing deployment time with automation at scale. 
Ensuring compliance with Microsoft’s best practices effortlessly. 

As we move forward with our Edge Networking Solutions, Network ATC is proving to be a key enabler of operational efficiency, security, and scalability. If you’re planning to deploy Windows Server 2025 clusters, Network ATC is a must-have in your toolkit! 

🚀 Stay ahead of the curve and future-proof your networking with Network ATC.