Is anyone else outraged about the 3x price increase for windows defender for server? I was expecting the Internet to be on fire about this. Instead there are crickets.
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What is the difference between Microsoft Defender for Business servers and Microsoft Defender for Servers Plan 1 and Plan 2?
The following table compares server options for Defender for Business customers:
| Server license | Description |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Defender for Business servers | Microsoft Defender for Business servers is an add-on to Defender for Business and Microsoft 365 Business Premium. This offering enables small and medium sized businesses (up to 300 users) to onboard and protect servers and client devices in the Microsoft Defender portal. |
| Microsoft Defender for Servers Plan 1 / Plan 2 | Microsoft Defender for Servers Plan 1/Plan 2 is an enterprise-focused offering that can be purchased with any other Microsoft cloud plan. This offering is part of Microsoft Defender for Cloud, and includes advanced threat hunting with six months of data retention and the Microsoft Threat Experts service. The admin experience for Defender for Cloud resides within the Azure portal (https://portal.azure.com). |
Adding Defender for Cloud to a tenant that has Defender for Business doesn't change the simplified configuration experience that Defender for Business offers. The functionality in Microsoft Defender for Servers Plan 1 or Plan 2 work with Defender for Business.
Does Defender for Business support servers?
If you're planning to onboard an instance of Windows Server or Linux Server, you'll need an additional license, such as Microsoft Defender for Business servers. This license is available as an add-on to Microsoft 365 Business Premium and the standalone version of Defender for Business. The Microsoft Defender for Business servers license is priced at $3 per server instance. You can either purchase a license for each onboarded server, or choose to offboard servers from Defender for Business.
If you have more than 60 servers, you'll need to get another license, such as Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Server or Microsoft Defender for Servers Plan 1 or Plan 2. For more information, see Onboard servers to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.
How does Microsoft Intune work with Defender for Business?
Defender for Business capabilities are integrated with endpoint security policies in the Microsoft Intune admin center. You can use either the Microsoft Defender portal or the Intune admin center to onboard devices and configure security policies. Some capabilities, such as controlled folder access and attack surface reduction rules must be configured in the Intune admin center.
For more information, see the following articles:
- Set up, review, and edit your security policies and settings in Microsoft Defender for Business
- Manage device security with endpoint security policies in Microsoft Intune