Updated: July 9, 2020 (July 9, 2012)
Analyst ReportWindows Server 2012 Editions and Licensing Changes
Windows Server (WS) 2012 will be available in two general purpose editions: Standard and Datacenter. These editions will have the same technical capabilities and be licensed by the same paired-processor model. The only differences between the editions will be virtualization use rights and license price. Even with the elimination of the Enterprise edition, many organizations may have slightly lower licensing costs. Client Access Licenses (CALs) and reassignment rights remain largely unchanged, and the addition of even one WS 2012 server in an organization could trigger the need for new CALs throughout the organization.
Edition Simplification
In the past, technical features were a key differentiator between server editions. For example, WS 2008 R2 Standard edition could only use up to 32GB of RAM and up to four processors. WS 2008 R2 Datacenter could use up to 2TB of RAM and 64 processors. WS 2008 R2 Standard edition did not include the Windows Server cluster feature for “failing over” applications and services across servers.
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