Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Standard

Windows Server 2016 Standard: server operating system for physical and lightly virtualised environments

Windows Server 2016 Standard is the Standard edition of the Windows Server 2016 generation, licensed by physical processor cores. The edition contains the basic server roles such as Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, Hyper-V and Failover Clustering and permits two virtual machines on a fully licensed server. It is suitable for environments in which Windows Server 2016 is already in use or an application explicitly requires this version.

Licensing by processor cores

All physical cores of the server are licensed, with a minimum of 8 cores per processor and 16 cores per server. This means that even a server with fewer cores requires licences for 16 cores. With fully licensed cores, two virtual machines running Windows Server may be operated; the physical host may additionally run Windows Server if it is used solely to host and manage these virtual machines. For every two additional virtual machines, all cores are licensed again.

Every user or device that accesses the server also requires a Windows Server CAL, unless the Microsoft Product Terms provide for an exception. For Remote Desktop sessions, an RDS CAL per user or device is also required. Neither access licence is part of this offer.

Roles and features

As a domain controller, Windows Server 2016 Standard provides Active Directory for the central management of user accounts, groups and permissions, complemented by DNS and DHCP for network configuration. With Hyper-V, the server becomes a virtualisation host, for example to run an application server and a test server separately from each other. With Failover Clustering, several servers can be combined into a cluster for highly available services. The edition also contains Storage Spaces and supports Windows containers for containerised applications.

Windows Server 2016 is installed as Server Core without a graphical desktop environment or as Server with Desktop Experience. According to Microsoft, Server Core requires at least 1 GB of RAM, Desktop Experience 2 GB.

Difference from Windows Server 2016 Datacenter

With fully licensed cores, the Datacenter edition permits any number of virtual machines and additionally contains Storage Spaces Direct, Storage Replica, support for shielded virtual machines and Network Controller for software-defined networking. If more than two virtual servers are to run on one host, choose Windows Server 2016 Datacenter.

Buy Windows Server 2016 Standard: licence and scope of delivery

You receive a product key to activate Windows Server 2016 Standard. You select the number of core licences in the product version when ordering; how many cores must be licensed depends on Microsoft's requirements described above. Windows Server 2016 is installed exclusively as a 64-bit version. The scope of delivery includes:

• the product key for Windows Server 2016 Standard
• the download link for the installation file (all downloads are also available under Software Download)
• instructions for installation and activation (see also Guides and FAQ)
• the invoice with VAT shown separately

Once your payment has been received, your product key is displayed directly on the order confirmation page and also sent to you by email. After that, you can retrieve it again at any time: with a customer account under My Product Codes, without a customer account via the Guest Portal.

If you have any questions about installation or activation, our Support team is available around the clock by email. For several servers and larger environments, there are offers for businesses, schools and public authorities in the B2B Area. You will find further editions and access licences in the category Windows Server and under Operating Systems.

System requirements

Minimum requirements according to Microsoft. Server roles, updates and servers with more than 16 GB of RAM require additional storage space.