Windows Server R2. Windows Server R2 captures the experience Microsoft has gained from building and operating public clouds to deliver a highly dynamic, available, and cost-effective server platform for your datacenter and private cloud.

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 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 means that Windows Server was the only version to offer both Web and a Foundation edition.

The primary purpose of the Web edition is to host and build web applications, web pages, and XML services. Furthermore, other features are also somewhat restricted. For example, only 10 concurrent file-sharing connections are allowed at any moment. The Advanced edition was only offered with Windows Server At the time, it was the only Server capable of handling added physical hardware.

It was because of these capabilities, the Advanced edition of Server was ideal for medium to large organizations. This edition cannot be purchased but can be subscribed to.

Windows Server Datacenter: Azure edition is exactly like the regular Datacenter edition, but is available entirely on the Azure cloud infrastructure. It can be integrated with your on-premise servers, or entirely with your other cloud servers, or even as a hybrid server.

These are all the Server editions you may come across if you are working with Microsoft Servers. However, some of these editions may have further variations.

While performing a clean Windows Server installation, apart from the editions, you will also be asked to choose whether you wish to install the Desktop Experience version or the regular one. The regular version is usually the Core version. Windows Server Core editions are missing the Graphical User Interface GUI you normally see on a Windows client machine, which includes the various windows, apps, the mouse cursor animations, etc.

It only includes the Command Line Interface CLI , thus only allowing you to configure and control the server using the scripts and commands. Whereas in the Desktop Experience, you are given the complete Windows experience with a pleasing interface. Although the Core version allows you to manage your server more intently using the switches and parameters, it also lacks a few components that you normally get in the Desktop Experience version.

Editions, as well as versions, can often be changed or upgraded for Windows Server. For example, Microsoft Hyper-V allows even small organizations with tiny budgets to compete with large enterprises when considering the data center. First of all, you should not spend a fortune to build your first virtual environment. 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. Each license is only valid for one physical server. You can deploy more than two processors with the Datacenter edition, but you will need to purchase additional CPU licenses.

Both editions support the same roles and features, so you can use one or the other if necessary. In addition, you can run as many instances of the software on the same server. Windows Server Standard has many of the same features as its predecessor, but has an emphasis on security and reliability.

Standard editions can run up to two Virtual Machines, while Datacenter edition supports unlimited Virtual Machines. Datacenter editions are ideal for medium-sized companies with extensive virtualization requirements.

When looking for a Windows Server R2 edition, it is best to opt for the Datacenter edition. When it comes to Windows server software, how many editions are there? The answer varies for different types of organizations. Microsoft has simplified their edition strategy for Windows Server and has even gone out of their way to move away from discontinued editions. But it still remains important to understand which editions are right for your business. Read on for more information about Windows Server editions and licensing.

The main difference between the two editions is the number of users and devices that they support. The Essential edition supports up to 25 users per physical server. Release two is a cumulative set of updates to the previous version. It was derived from the Windows 8. In addition to performance improvements, this version of Windows features new features like storage tiering, which helps Windows move data between SSDs and slower hard drives.

Windows server 2012 r2 standard datacenter difference free

 
The next release was Windows Server , and it came with a new server option, Nano Server.