Windows Server 2016 Standard Licensing Virtualization

Here is a feature comparison from microsoft s licensing datasheet available for download here.

Windows server 2016 standard licensing virtualization. In reality you d install hyper v server 2016 on your physical server and purchase a windows server 2016 standard license 8x two core license packs for every two windows server 2016 virtual machines you want to run on that host. What matters is that you cannot buy windows server 2016 standard or datacenter licenses singly. Each distinct active windows kernel requires sufficient licensing. Understand that it connects windows server to the per core cal model and indicates that windows server 2016 licenses can be purchased in packs of two.

The windows server 2016 2019 standard license also allows you to run up to two vms with windows server on the same physical host. Virtualization rights only apply to windows server vms. With windows server 2016 standard edition license and windows server 2016 datacenter edition license you receive rights to two vms as well to an unlimited number of vms respectively. The answer is that the licensed windows server 2016 provides more features and opportunities for your virtual environment than free hyper v server 2016.

Windows server standard and datacenter editions continue to require windows server cals for every user or device accessing a server see the product terms for exceptions or windows server external connector licenses for servers accessed by external users. You can run multiple operating systems on one physical computer and isolate the operating systems from each other. They can also be purchased in packs of sixteen but that s not important. Windows server 2016 has the same distinction between datacenter and standard unlimited vms versus two vms but it adds a number of advanced features in datacenter.

For example the windows server 2016 datacenter supports. One windows server standard edition license pack allows for two virtualized instances of windows server. In addition to the base windows server cal or external connector license some functionalities will continue to require the purchase of an. To give you a more consistent licensing experience across multi cloud environments we transitioned from processor based licensing to core based licensing for windows server 2019 datacenter and standard editions.

Total of required oses the total number of operating system environments oses to be run on the server s. Explaining the two the two is the most truthful part of the misconception. For specific pricing contact your microsoft reseller. This tool takes into account the following.

The licenses in question allow us to run instances of windows server. Host specification since the windows server 2016 licensing model is core based this tool requires information about the number of servers hosts the number of cpus per server and the number of cores per cpu.