On May 21 st , Windows Server R2 was introduced and is now the latest version of Windows Server in the market. Microsoft has released four different editions of Windows Server varying in cost, licensing and features. This edition of Windows Server is targeted towards small businesses of up to 15 users. Foundation edition can be implemented in environments where features such as file sharing, printer sharing, security and remote access are required.

The Windows Server R2 Essentials edition is the next step up, also geared towards small businesses of up to 25 users. Windows Server R2 Essentials edition is available in retail stores around the world making it easy for businesses to install the new operating system without necessarily purchasing new hardware.

Windows Server R2 Essentials edition can run a single instance of virtual machine on Hyper V, a feature that was not available in Windows Server Essentials non-R2 edition. This single virtual machine instance can be Windows Server R2 Essential edition only, seriously limiting the virtualization options but allowing companies to begin exploring the benefits of the virtualization platform.

The Standard edition is able to support an unlimited amount of users, as long as the required user licenses have been purchased. We should note that the Standard edition supports up to 2 Virtual Machines. The Windows Server R2 Datacenter edition is the flagship product created to meet the needs of medium to large enterprises.

The major difference between the Standard and Datacenter edition is that the Datacenter edition allows the creation of unlimited Virtual Machines and is therefore suitable for environments with extensive use of virtualization technology. Before purchasing the Windows Server operating system, it is very important to understand the difference between various editions, the table below shows the difference between the four editions of Windows Server For example, a CAL assigned to a user, allows only that user to access the server via any device.

Likewise, if a DAL is assigned to particular device, then any authenticated user using that device is allowed to access the server. We can use a simple example to help highlight the practical differences between CAL and DAL licensing models and understand the most cost-effective approach:. Assume an environment with Windows Server R2 standard edition and a total of 50 users and 25 devices workstations.

If not then you probably want Standard one. Microsoft has built this stand-alone version of Hyper-V that truly does stand alone in that it does not come with the full version of Windows Server R2 operating system.

Really Cool! I really want the benefits of running Hyper-V in its R2 version. I could download and install it as the platform for my already licensed servers. Now if you choose to add new VMs running WS R2 you will need to purchase licenses at which time you would get virtualization rights and would at that time have to decide whether you wanted to continue with Hyper-V server or simply move to Hyper-V on Windows Server R2.

Automate and Integrate with System Center! November 20, 3 min to read. Chris Henley. Windows Server licensing became more complicated with the release of Windows Server compared to Windows Server Customers are confused with the new licensing model when trying to estimate Windows server licensing costs and buy the correct license.

This blog post covers Windows Server licensing including Microsoft virtualized server licensing to help you estimate Windows Server cost for a physical server and virtual machines.

The licensing scheme of Windows Server is similar to Windows Server There are two types of licenses for Windows Server — server licenses and client access licenses CALs. Server licenses are core-based licenses. The number of server licenses needed depends on the number of processors and processor cores.

The number of client access licenses needed depends on the number of users or devices that will be connected to a server. Remote Desktop Protocol RDP is used to provide access to remote desktop services on the server for remote users. Note: This blog post provides an overview of licensing to familiarize you with Windows Server licensing. Licensing rules can change or be updated for newer product versions.

Refer to the Microsoft website and contact Microsoft sales managers before you buy licenses in order to avoid mistakes such as inadvertently violating the license agreement. Windows Server uses a per-core licensing model for servers, which reflects the trend of producing powerful multi-core processors with a high number of CPU cores and the number of cores per processor increased significantly.

Server manufacturers are not increasing the number of processors in assembled servers, but are installing processors with more cores. The general rules that are applied to each physical server running Windows Server on a physical server as a host operating system or on virtual machines on this server are listed below.

The price for 8 dual-core licenses is the same as the price for a single core license. A license for 16 cores is the minimum license you can buy. Similarly, if a motherboard on a server has two sockets, but only one processor is installed, you only need to license all the cores of the installed processor. OSE is the operating system environment. This is a term that defines one instance of Windows Server running on a physical server or a virtual machine. The virtual OSE term is used when Windows Server is running as a guest operating system Microsoft virtualized server on a virtual machine residing on a physical server.

Licensed servers are the servers to which licenses are assigned. Note: The costs for one Windows Server R2 license for two processors equals the price for 8 dual-core licenses for Windows Server Windows Server cost is often a determining factor when choosing an edition.

Windows Server Essentials is the light edition suitable for small organizations and is licensed per server. There are many limitations in this edition. Windows Server Essentials does not support virtualization. In fact, I would like to clear out some misunderstanding and do small simulation of price for small shops 2 physical hosts , when it comes to a number of VMs which needs to run, and also the number of physical hosts that are in the infrastructure.

The Windows Server licensing is simpler than in the past. If you’re planning to run 10 VMs and up , then the Datacenter licensing is cheaper… but read on. The new Windows Server licensing for virtual environments, It’s per CPU model: single licence will support a maximum of two physical processors. When you grow up and If you have 2 standard licenses assigned to a single physical host, then you can run four Windows Server VMs etc….

It’s better explained with an image. The image comes from the original Microsoft PDF document referenced at the bottom of the post.

As you can see, there are 3 physcial hosts. The one on the left has two standard licenses, while the two others do have three standard licenses.

You can move VMs from the left to the middle and right hosts, because they have 3 Windows Server licenses assigned 6VMs each maxi. If they only had two licenses assigned, then you would not be able to do that.

Windows server 2012 r2 standard virtualization licensing free

Therefore, you should choose the Windows Server license depending on the maximum number of VMs on a single host. Below are some examples of calculating Windows Server licenses for physical hosts when using virtualization. Example 1. There is a Hyper-V cluster of 5 hosts. Each server has 2 processors with 20 cores. Each will run 10 virtual machines.

Because 5 servers are united into HA Hyper-V cluster, which means that up to 50 virtual machines can be running potentially on each host during VM migration failover.

Accordingly, it is more profitable to purchase the Datacenter licenses. Example 2. The branch office has 1 server with 2 sockets with 4 cores each, on which 4 virtual machines are running. How many Windows Server licenses do I need to purchase? The server has 8 cores. Under the terms of licensing — you need to cover at least 16 cores. This will allow you to run 2 VMs. To run additional 2 VMs, you need to buy another set of core licenses. So if i have one VM in cluster of two nodes and fail happens VM migrates from first node to second host node.

Do i need call MS and activate it with key from second node? How long will be grace period for VM on second node? The virtual machine must be activated only once. Thus, from a virtualization point of view, we have only three options from a wide range of server Windows-based operating systems which are good enough to start from the very beginning and create a small virtual environment :.

Installing Windows Server is a straightforward process. After installing the operating system, make sure that you added this server to the domain. Hope you find this post useful. To be continued…. July 28, 2 min to read. Download NOW. VMware Workstation and other IT tutorials.

Free IT tools. Home Lab Reviews — Virtualization Software and reviews, Disaster and backup recovery software reviews. Virtual infrastructure monitoring software review. Please help me out from this confusion……. Update in ? We have a new Microsoft licensing politic now based on numbers of core and not processors. VMware Workstation Backup 10 FREE instances. Find us on Facebook. How to Buy Pricing and licensing for Windows Server.

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 Azure, adding additional layers of security while helping you modernize your applications and infrastructure.

Get started with Windows Server: R2. Windows Server Essentials edition is a cloud-connected first server designed for small businesses with up to 25 users and 50 devices. If you are considering installing any version of Windows Server Essentials, we would encourage you to consider Microsoft Get started with Windows Server Essentials: R2.

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Windows server 2012 r2 standard virtualization licensing free

 
replace.me › windowsserverr2_licensing_guide. With the Windows Server R2 Standard edition licensing model, you can grow your virtualization environment by either buying a step-up license to Datacenter.