In this Windows Server 2025 Summit session, Pierre Roman sits down with Mike Rhoads (cloud solution architect, Azure), Giles Pauli (Windows engineer supporting all things Active Directory), and Jeff Hughes (supportability program manager for storage and high availability—failover clustering, Hyper-V, storage, and Azure Local) to unpack the kinds of troubleshooting and support calls that keep popping up in the real world. They start with KMS activation and KMS client errors (including which Windows versions can activate which clients and where to find the KMS host compatibility guidance on learn.microsoft.com), then pivot into the ever-popular “how do I upgrade from Windows Server 2022 to Windows Server 2025?” conversation—especially when clusters are involved.
From there, Giles digs into common Active Directory pain points and performance sleuthing with the built-in Active Directory Collector Set in PerfMon (hello, giant HTML report) and Windows Performance Recorder, while the team keeps coming back to the usual culprit: network connectivity—ports, packet captures, and the kind of TCP basics (like spotting SYN retransmits) that quickly explain why blocking TCP port 88 tends to summon Kerberos issues. They also connect the dots on hybrid management with Azure Arc, including using Azure Update Manager and Azure Policy to orchestrate patching for on-prem servers, and when Extended Security Updates via Azure Arc can help you stay protected while you plan your upgrade path.
We produced this as a pre-recorded, streamed event designed to feel calm, crisp, and confidently “live” to the audience—without the behind-the-scenes chaos that usually requires snacks, deep breathing, and a minor pact with the streaming gods. We handled show development, designed the full graphics package, prepped the guests so they sounded like themselves (just…slightly more unstoppable), produced the footage, edited it into a tight, watchable episode, and streamed it to multiple social platforms. The result: a polished, professional show that’s easy on your team, friendly for your speakers, and built for both live impact and on-demand replay value.
The inevitable sequels
Hollywood keeps stretching good ideas into progressively worse sequels. We don’t. These are the related videos—spiritual siblings of the one you just watched—as good or better than this video. Expect callbacks, new plot twists, and maybe even a scene-stealing cameo from a lower third.
