Windows Server 2012 Datacenter R2 (2 CPU)

Server Manager Dashboard

Windows Server Virtualization

Windows Server Storage

Windows Server Licensing

Windows Server 2012 Datacenter R2 is a flexible, powerful, and easy-to-use server solution. Whether your company is a small business or a large enterprise, Windows Server 2012 Datacenter R2 can help you cloud optimize your business. Windows Server 2012 Datacenter provides licensing rights for unlimited Windows Server virtual machines on a single physical server.

Windows Server 2012 Datacenter R2 enables you to blend your on-premises solutions with the cloud without having to re-engineer infrastructure, systems management, or applications. It offers customers scalable, dynamic, and multitenant-aware cloud infrastructure that helps users connect across-premises. As a result, IT can respond to business needs with greater agility and efficiency, and the mobile workforce is able to access personalized work environments from virtually anywhere.

• Hyper-V 2.0 - included in the operating system and provides 16x improvement in the amount of vCPU and RAM assignable to virtual machines

• Live Migration – move virtual machines between physical servers with no downtime or loss of data

• Hyper-V Replica – replicate virtual machines to another server in another location every 30 seconds

• Deduplication – automatically reduce wasted storage

• Storage Spaces – build your own virtualize storage pools to provide redundancy and performance

• Storage Tiers – automatically move the most frequently used files to SSDs

• Each physical server requires at least one license

Windows Server CAL

Windows Server Editions

Windows ServerEssentials

Windows ServerStandard

Windows ServerDatacenter

FeaturesCloud connected first serverEssentials Experience Dashboard provides easy way to share files, back-up data, enable remote access, and optionally connect to the cloud.

Contains ALL features including Windows Failover Clustering, Active Directory, and new Server Manager for managing multiple servers.

All Standard edition features plus unlimited Windows Server virtual machines on one physical server

Licensing ModelServer license includes rights for up to 25 users or 50 devices

Each license grants two virtual machines on up to two CPUsEach User or Device requires a Client Access License (CAL)

Each license covers up to two CPUsEach User or Device requires a Client Access License (CAL)

Windows Server Virtual Machines allowed

1 (must be Essentials Edition OS) *R2 Version ONLY

2 per license Unlimited

Best Fit for Companies with less than 25 users who aren't virtualizing.

Companies with more than 25 users who don't need unlimited virtualization

Companies utilizing virtualization to get the most efficiency from each server.

Are Windows Server CALs required?

No Yes Yes

• Each license covers two CPUs, thus a four CPU server would require two license (one base license and one additional license)

• Datacenter Edition grants the use of unlimited Windows Server virtual machines on that physical server

• Additionally, a Windows Server 2012 Client Access License (CAL) is required for each user or device that accesses the server

• CALs are different from Server Software Licenses - A server Client Access License (CAL) is a license that gives users and devices the right to legally access a server installed with Microsoft server software.

• CALs are cost-effective and scalable - Customers pay only for the licensing they need. They can adapt their licensing needs by buying CALs as their businesses grow.

When do you need to CAL up?

Types of Windows Server CALs CAL Backward Compatibility