Windows Server 2016 editions

Windows Server 2016 is available in two main editions and a few minor standalone editions. The two main editions are as follows:

• Datacenter Edition: This edition has the complete set of features and roles and is most appropriate for environments in need of unlimited virtualization or highly-virtualized, enterprise-scale workloads.
• Standard Edition: This edition is mostly appropriate for physical installations or non-virtualized, low-density environments. It supports Hyper-V as well but the number of virtualized workloads is limited compared to the Datacenter Edition.

The features that are exclusive to the Datacenter Edition include shielded virtual machines, Software-Defined Networking (SDN), networking stacks, Storage Spaces Direct, and Storage Replica. The Standard Edition includes rights to two Operating System Environments (OSEs, or virtual machines) or Hyper-V Containers, whereas the Datacenter Edition includes unlimited OSEs and Hyper-V Containers. OSE is a Microsoft term that represents a Windows instance running either as a physical or a virtual installation. The Standard Edition therefore grants you the right to run a physical server OSE instance in addition to a virtual instance.

If a physical OSE is used exclusively to host and manage virtual OSEs, you can use two virtual OSEs in addition to the physical OSE. At first, the Standard Edition OSE limit might not look very attractive, but the price is an important factor to consider as well; currently, Datacenter Edition price is approximately six to seven times higher than Standard Edition. Unless you will run more than twelve to fourteen virtual machines, having a single Datacenter license might not be a good decision because you could spend less money buying Standard Edition licenses instead. Of course, licensing and money are not the only variables here. Should you decide to buy Standard licenses, you have to consider expense of buying the same amount of additional server hardware.

If you choose the Datacenter version, a high-end server with hardware characteristics powerful enough to run fourteen virtual machines might be more expensive than buying seven low- or mid-end servers suitable to host Standard versions of Windows Server. With in increased number of servers, the administrative burden increases as well.

The Datacenter and Standard Editions require every user or device that accesses a server to have a Client Access License (CAL). The following table gives you a comparison of the features of Windows Server 2016 editions:

Minor or standalone Windows Server 2016 Editions include the following:

• Essentials: Ideal for small businesses with up to 25 users and 50 devices. No CALs are required. Be aware that the Essentials edition does not support more users and devices once it's at its user or device limit. 
• Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2016: A free edition that contains only Windows Hypervisor, the same technology as is in the Hyper-V role on Windows Server 2016. Like Server Core, it has no graphical interface.
• Windows Storage Server 2016: A dedicated file and print server in both Standard and Workgroup editions. This is available only with a purchase of dedicated hardware as part of an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) offering.
• Windows Server 2016 Multipoint Premium Server: Available only through Volume Licensing for academic customers.