This instance of Microsoft Windows Server 2016 is hardened according to a CIS Benchmark. CIS Benchmarks are consensus-based security configuration guides both developed and accepted by government, business, industry, and academia. Launching an image hardened according to the trusted security configuration baselines prescribed by CIS will reduce cost, time, and risk to your organization.

This image has been hardened by CIS and is configured with the majority of the recommendations included in a free CIS Benchmark that can be downloaded from the CIS website.

Hardened according to a Level 2 Benchmark, this version is intended for use cases where security is paramount and may negatively inhibit the utility or performance of the technology. This was configured using local group policy. If your intention is to use this in a domain environment where policies are managed globally, the majority of our security settings will be changed and managed by your domain policies.

The Benchmark that is the basis for this image was developed for system and application administrators, security specialists, auditors, help desk, and platform deployment personnel who plan to develop, deploy, assess, or secure solutions that incorporate Microsoft Windows Server 2016. CIS Benchmarks are developed in a unique consensus-based process comprised of hundreds of security professionals worldwide as de facto, best-practice configuration standards.

Amazon EC2 running Microsoft Windows Server is a fast and dependable environment for deploying applications using the Microsoft Web Platform. Amazon EC2 enables you to run any compatible Windows-based solution on AWS' high-performance, reliable, cost-effective, cloud computing platform. Common Windows use cases include Enterprise Windows-based application hosting, website and web-service hosting, data processing, media transcoding, distributed testing, ASP.NET application hosting, and any other application requiring Windows software.