Client access licenses are not required. Windows Server Essentials is well-integrated with Office hosted services. In other words, you can install Windows Server Standard on a host machine and run two virtual machines with Windows Server Standard as a guest OS. Windows Server Standard running on a host used for virtualization as a hypervisor can be used only to install Hyper-V to run VMs. Using the host OS as a full-featured server with two virtual servers is not allowed.

You cannot use three full-featured servers one physical and two virtual if you have the Standard license that covers two VMs and one physical server. The licensed Datacenter edition covers Windows Server installed on a host and allows you to run an unlimited number of virtual machines with Windows Server installed as a guest OS.

A Windows Server Essentials vs Standard comparison is outside the scope of this blog post. CAL licenses are required for both Standard and Datacenter editions. For example, if you have licensed Windows Server Standard for all processor cores of a physical server and install Windows Server Standard on a host with the Hyper-V role enabled, then you can run two VMs with Windows Server Standard. If you need to run 4 virtual machines on a server, then you need to buy one more license a set of two-core licenses to cover all cores for this server the total number of VMs is four and Windows Server Standard is used in this example.

One Standard license covers two virtual machines. If you need to run 4 VMs on a physical server that has two 8-core processors, you must buy 16 dual-core Standard licenses for Windows Server Two license sets cover all cores twice and allow you to run 4 VMs.

If you need to run an odd number of VMs on a host, you need to buy licenses for the next even number of VMs. If you need to run 4 VMs on the same physical server that has two 8-core processors but with the Windows Server Datacenter license, you need to buy 8 dual-core Datacenter licenses for Windows Server VM licensing order: Physical cores must be licensed first and only after that virtual machines must be licensed.

Taking into account the current price for Windows Server licenses, it may be better to buy Windows Server Standard licenses if you are going to run up to 12 virtual machines on a single physical server. If you need to run 14 VMs or more, the more rational decision is to buy Windows Server Datacenter. VM migration is especially needed if you run VMs in a cluster. In this case you need to buy the number of licenses to cover all VMs on all hosts for each physical server as if you are migrating all VMs from all hosts to one host.

In this case, each VM is licensed to migrate to any host. You can migrate a Windows Server license between physical servers once every 90 days.

The Hyper-V virtual machine activation binds to the activated instance of Windows Server installed on a physical server that acts as a hypervisor. Virtual machines can be activated without an internet connection. There is no need to manage product keys for VMs. Activation is preserved if licensed VMs are migrated between licensed hosts. The following information provides an overview of your key licensing options.

Licensing editions Compare features in all editions to determine the ideal solution for your virtualization and cloud computing needs. Datacenter edition is ideal for customers who want to have a highly virtualized private and hybrid cloud environment. As always, it provides access to all the product features and enables unlimited instances of Windows Server with each license, enabling your virtual environment to grow as you do.

The licensing for Datacenter edition will continue to be processor plus CAL Client Access License , with each license covering up to two physical processors on a single server. Standard edition is ideal for those customers who want to have a physical or lightly virtualized environment. This edition enables you to run up to two virtual instances of Windows Server with each license and provides all the same features as Datacenter edition. The licensing for Standard edition will continue to be processor plus CAL, with each license covering up to two physical processors on a single server, just like Datacenter edition.

Essentials edition is ideal for small businesses that have up to 25 users and want to have a simpler, pre-configured connection to cloud-based services. This edition enables you to run a single virtual instance of Essentials. The licensing for Essentials will continue to be a server license for a two processor server that does not require CALs. Hope you find this post useful. To be continued…. July 28, 2 min to read.

Maria Levkina. Where does it start? The user limit of this server edition is 25 and device limit is This means that a maximum of 25 users amongst 50 computers can access the Windows Server Essentials edition. For example, you have 20 users rotating randomly amongst 25 computers accessing the Server Essentials edition, without any problem. A common question at this point is what if the organization expands and increases its users and computers? In these cases Microsoft provides an upgrade path allowing organizations to upgrade to the Windows Server Standard or Datacenter edition license and perform an in-place license transition.

Once the transition is complete, the user limitation, and other features are unlocked without requiring migration or reinstallation of the server. Companies upgrading to a higher edition of Windows Server should keep in mind that it will be necessary to purchase the required amount of CALs or DALs according to their users or devices.

Administrators will be happy to know that it is also possible to downgrade the Standard edition of Server to the Essentials edition. For example, it is possible to run Essential edition of Server as virtual machine utilizing one of two available virtual instances in Standard edition as shown in the figure below. This eliminates the needs to purchase Essential edition of Server Download Now! Unlike Windows Server Essentials non-R2 , you can now run a single instance of a virtual machine.

The server licensing rights have been expanded, allowing you to install an instance of Essentials on your physical server to run the Hyper-V role with none of the other roles and features of the Essentials Experience installed , and a second instance of Essentials as a virtual machine VM on that same server with all the Essentials Experience roles and features.

Definition of a socket is a CPU or physical processor. Logical cores are not counted as sockets. A single license of Standard and Datacenter edition covers up to two physical processors per physical server.

Standard edition allows up to 2 virtual instances while the Datacenter edition allows unlimited number of virtual instances.

Windows server 2012 r2 datacenter vs standard price free.The Essentials of Windows Server Licensing for Virtual Machines

 
Standard and Datacenter editions offer Hyper-V while Foundation and Essentials editions don’t. The completely free Microsoft Hyper-V Server. Windows Server Pricing Options ; Standard Edition, $20/month, $ ; Datacenter Edition, $/month, $6, Whether your company is a small business or a large enterprise, Windows Server Datacenter can help you cloud optimize your business. Windows Server

– Windows server 2012 r2 datacenter vs standard price free

 
 
We need to buy 8 dual-core licenses for each server because it is not possible to buy less than 8 double-core licenses to license a physical server even if there are less than 16 cores. Windows Server Essentials is the light edition suitable for small organizations and is licensed per server. The Data Center edition would be used on a machine that you intend to setup virtual machines on as it includes licensing for multiple virtual machines under the same server. Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Standard edition allows up to 2 virtual instances while the Datacenter edition allows unlimited number of virtual instances. Windows Powershell. A single license covers up to two physical processors.