1. Why is Microsoft making Windows Server licensing changes? The change to core based licensing is one of several steps Microsoft is taking to evolve our server licensing to support hybrid cloud. This change aligns Windows Server 2016 (on-prem), Windows Server (Azure), SQL Server, and System Center. This change to core licensing aligns the servers to a common and consistent licensing denomination that is already a standard measure for capacity across environments. 2. When referring to core licensing, what is a core? A core refers to a physical core within the CPU. It does not refer to a virtual CPU within a virtual machine, nor a hyper-threaded core. Only physical cores within the physical CPUs should be licensed. 3. Which Windows Server 2016 editions are licensed per core? Windows Server 2016 Standard and Datacenter editions are licensed per core. Other editions (Essentials and Storage Server) are still licensed per-processor.
4. Which OEM Windows Server 2016 Standard and Datacenter skus are available to purchase from Microsoft? Base Skus (include media and keys) Windows Server Standard 16 core Windows Server Standard 24 core Windows Server Datacenter 16 core Windows Server Datacenter 24 core Additional add-on licenses (include license only) 2 core Standard 2 core Datacenter 4 core Standard 4 core Datacenter 16 core Standard 16 core Datacenter
5. How do I determine home many core licenses are required for Windows Server 2016 Standard or Datacenter? You must license all the physical cores in the server A minimum of 8 core licenses required for each processor A minimum of 16 core licenses required for each server If you know the number of processors, and the number of physical cores in each processor, you can use the following license calculator to determine which licenses are required: https://oemcommunity.microsoft.com/content/373 6. Are CALs required for Windows Server 2016? Standard and Datacenter editions require every user or device to have a CAL. Essentials and Storage Server do not require CALs
7. If processors (and therefore cores) are disabled from Windows use, do I still need to license the cores? If the processor is disabled for use by Windows, the cores on that processor do not need to be licensed. For example, if 2 processors in a 4 processor server (with 8 cores per processor) were disabled and not available for Windows Server use, only 16 cores would need to be licensed. However, disabling hyper threading or disabling cores for specific programs does not relieve the need for a Windows Server license on the physical cores. 8. With Standard Edition, what virtualization rights are included? Standard edition includes the rights to install two Windows Server virtual machines on the physical server where the license is assigned. This is in addition to the physical host OS that is installed on the hardware. In this scenario, the physical host OS should only be used to host the virtual machines. It should not be used as an application server, file server, or domain controller. These virtualization rights are the same regardless of which hypervisor technology is used. 9. Can I install an older version of Windows Server after purchasing Windows Server 2016? Windows Server 2016 includes rights to install previous versions of Windows Server instead of Windows Server 2016, however, neither Microsoft or Microsoft s partners are obligated to provide media or keys for these installations.
10. What is the difference between Standard and Datacenter? Datacenter Edition Standard Edition Core Windows Server functionality OSEs*/Hyper-V containers Unlimited 2 Windows Server containers Unlimited Unlimited Nano Server** Host Guardian Service Storage features including Storage Spaces Direct and Storage Replica Shielded Virtual Machines Networking stack *OSE refers to a server Operating System Environment. Windows Server Standard Edition license permits two OSEs or VMs when all physical cores are licensed. **Software Assurance is required to deploy and operate Nano Server in production.