Licensing Windows Server 2016

Recently, Microsoft presented more detailed information about Windows Server 2016 . There is already some technical information about Hyper-V, Containers, Nano Server and more. But just now there was information about licensing Windows Server 2016.


A small caveat: all the information in the article is taken from the documentation released by Microsoft in December 2015. It may change in the future. This article is for general reference only to licensing changes. If you want to ensure the correctness of the purchased license, you must contact Microsoft or a Microsoft partner.
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Microsoft will release two versions of Windows Server 2016 - Datacenter and Standard, as it was with Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2. There will be two big changes in Windows Server 2016 licensing:
First, Microsoft will switch from per-processor licensing for per-kernel licensing in Windows Server 2016 Datacenter and Standard Editions.

And the second big change is that there will be no functional equality between the Standard Edition and the Datacenter Edition. In Windows Server 2012 R2, there were basically the same functions in both editions and the only difference was in the rights to use virtual machines. With the exception of automatic activation of virtual machines in the Datacenter edition.

Some interesting facts from the documentation released by Microsoft:

Windows Server 2016 revision:

• Datacenter Edition is intended for highly virtualized private and hybrid cloud environments.
• Standard Edition for a non-virtualized or partially virtualized environment.
• Information about other editions of Windows Server 2016 and Windows Storage Server 2016 will be presented in Q1 2016.

The approximate prices for Windows Server 2016 editions are as follows:

What does changing the kernel-based licensing model mean:

To license a physical server, you must license all physical cores. A minimum of 8 licenses is required for each physical processor on the server, and a minimum of 16 cores must be licensed for servers with one processor:

• The price of the 16-core Windows Server 2016 Datacenter and Standard Edition licenses will be the same as the license for 2 processors of the corresponding editions of Windows Server 2012 R2.
• Standard Edition gives you the right to install 2 operating environments or a Hyper-V container when all the physical cores in the server are licensed. Multiple licenses can be installed on some kernels for additional operating environments or Hyper-V containers.
• Each user and / or device requiring access to a licensed Windows Server Standard or Datacenter Edition requires a Windows Server CAL. Each Windows Server CAL allows access to multiple Windows Servers licenses.
• Windows Server CAL gives users or devices the right to access any edition of Windows Server of the same or earlier version.
• To license additional or advanced features, such as Remote Desktop Services or Active Directory Rights Management Services, you will need to purchase additional client access licenses, as before.

How to license physical cores for Windows Server 2016 Standard and Datacenter Editions

• Licenses for all physical server cores.
• At least 8 licenses for each processor core.
• Minimum 16 licenses for each server core.
• Kernel licenses will be sold in packs. Two licenses per pack.
• Buying 8 packs will be the minimum requirement for licensing each physical server.
• The cost of 2 licenses (packs) for each edition will be 1 / 8th of the price of the license of two processors of the corresponding 2012 R2 editions.

More details on licensing Windows Server 2016 can be found at www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/products/windows-server-2016

Yours, Servilon Team