Microsoft Windows Server

What is Microsoft Windows Server ?


Beside choosing the right physical server, the choice of operating system is undoubtfully important too.

Microsoft Windows Server is the platform for building an infrastructure of connected applications, networks, and web services, from the workgroup to the data center. It bridges on-premises environments with Microsoft Azure, adding additional layers of security while helping you modernize your applications and infrastructure.

Microsoft Windows Server Standard Edition

Standard Edition includes up to two (2) virtual instances of the operating system environment (VMs / OSEs) or up to two (2) Hyper-V Containers when all physical cores in the Server are licensed. For every two (2) additional OSEs or Hyper-V Containers, all the cores in the Server must be licensed again.

 

Microsoft Windows Server Datacenter Edition

Datacenter Edition includes unlimited virtual instances of the operating system environment (VMs / OSEs) and Hyper-V Containers on the licensed physical server.

 

Licensing Requirements:

  • All physical cores in the Server must be licensed (Hyperthreading (SMT) does not count as actual physical cores)
  • A minimum of 8 cores must be licensed for each processor
  • A minimum of 16 cores must be licensed for each Server

Windows Server Core Licensing Calculator

Compare features in Microsoft Windows Server versions


Performance and scalability

Feature description

Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 Standard and Datacenter

Windows Server 2016 Standard and Datacenter

Windows Server 2022 Standard and Datacenter

Physical (host) memory support

Up to 4 TB per physical server

Up to 24 TB per physical server

Up to 48 TB per physical server (2x)

Physical (host) logical processor support

Up to 320 LPs

Up to 512 LPs

Up to 2048 LPs

Virtual machine memory support

Up to 1 TB per virtual machine

Up to 12 TB per virtual machine (12x)

Up to 24 TB per virtual machine (12x)

Virtual machine virtual processor support

Up to 64 VPs per virtual machine

Up to 240 VPs per virtual machine Up to 512 VPs per virtual machine

Security

Level of support key

Microsoft Windows Server Not supported    Microsoft Windows Server Limited support    Microsoft Windows Server Fully supported

Feature description 

Windows Server 2008 R2 

Windows Server 2012 R2 

Windows Server 2016 

Windows Server 2022 

 Shielded Virtual Machines  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
 Just Enough Administration  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
 Just-in-Time Administration  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
 Credential Guard  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
 Remote Credential Guard  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
 Device Guard  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
 AppLocker  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
 Windows Defender  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
 Control Flow Guard  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
Enhanced threat detection  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
Secured-core server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server

Software-defined datacenter: Compute

Level of support key

Microsoft Windows Server Not supported    Microsoft Windows Server Limited support    Microsoft Windows Server Fully supported

Feature description

Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Server 2012 R2

Windows Server 2016

Windows Server 2022

Cluster OS Rolling Upgrade  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
Linux and FreeBSD workloads  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
Hot add and remove for disk, memory, and network  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
RDS RemoteFX vGPU  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
Server management tools  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
Nano Server installation option  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
VM Load Balancing  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
Advanced caching  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
ReFS file snapshots  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
Faster, Manageable Storage Improvements  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server

Software-defined datacenter: Networking

Level of support key

Not supported Not supported    Limited support Limited support    Fully supported Fully supported

Feature description

Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Server 2012 R2

Windows Server 2016

Windows Server 2022

Network Controller  Not supported  Not supported  Fully supported Fully supported
Microsegmentation  Not supported  Not supported  Fully supported Fully supported
Software Load Balancer  Not supported  Limited support  Fully supported Fully supported
UDP  Not supported Not supported Not supported Fully supported
TCP  Not supported Not supported Not supported Fully supported
Virtual Switch Enhancement  Not supported Not supported Not supported Fully supported
QUIC  Not supported Not supported Not supported Fully supported

Software-defined datacenter: Storage

Level of support key

Not supported Not supported    Limited support Limited support    Fully supported Fully supported

Feature description 

Windows Server 2008 R2 

Windows Server 2012 R2 

Windows Server 2016 

Windows Server 2022 

 Storage Spaces Direct  Not supported Not supported  Fully supported Microsoft Windows Server
 Storage Quality of Service  Not supported  Limited support  Fully supported Microsoft Windows Server
 Data deduplication  Not supported  Limited support  Fully supported Microsoft Windows Server
 Storage Replica  Not supported  Not supported  Fully supported Microsoft Windows Server
 Storage health monitoring  Not supported  Not supported  Fully supported Microsoft Windows Server
 High performance NVMe device support  Not supported  Fully supported  Fully supported Microsoft Windows Server
 Persistent Memory for maximun Application Performance  Not supported  Not supported  Fully supported Microsoft Windows Server
 Scale Out File Server  Not supported  Limited support  Fully supported Microsoft Windows Server
 VM Storage Resiliency  Not supported  Not supported  Fully supported Microsoft Windows Server
Software-Defined Storage  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server
Storage Replication  Microsoft Windows Server  Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server

Cloud-ready application platform

Level of support key

Not supported Not supported    Limited support Limited support    Fully supported Fully supported

Feature description

Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Server 2012 R2

Windows Server 2016

Windows Server 2022

Windows Server containers  Not supported  Not supported  Fully supported Fully supported
Hyper-V containers  Not supported  Not supported  Fully supported Fully supported
Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration  Fully supported  Fully supported  Fully supported Fully supported
Windows PowerShell 5.1 Fully supported Fully supported Fully supported Fully supported
Azure Arc enabled Windows Servers Fully supported Fully supported Fully supported Fully supported
Windows Admin Center Fully supported Fully supported Fully supported Fully supported
Azure Automanage – Hotpatch Fully supported Fully supported Fully supported Fully supported

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