Microsoft Windows Server 2019 Datacenter

Windows Server 2019 Datacenter: server operating system for highly virtualised environments

Windows Server 2019 Datacenter is the edition of the Windows Server 2019 generation for datacentres and Hyper-V hosts with many virtual servers. If all physical processor cores are licensed, any number of virtual machines running Windows Server may run on the server. In addition, there are features for software-defined storage, shielded virtual machines and software-defined networking. The edition is aimed at businesses that consolidate servers, build a hyperconverged infrastructure or provide virtual machines for several departments or customers.

Licensing and virtualisation rights

Microsoft licenses Windows Server 2019 Datacenter by physical processor cores. All physical cores of the server are licensed, with a minimum of 8 cores per processor and 16 cores per server. If this is met, the physical operating system environment and any number of virtual machines may be operated on this server without further server licences being required. The same applies to containers: Windows containers and Hyper-V containers can be used without limit. With Automatic Virtual Machine Activation (AVMA), Windows Server VMs on a Hyper-V host activated with Datacenter are activated via the host.

Access licences are required in addition: every user or device that accesses the server needs 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 added. Neither is part of this offer.

Features of the Datacenter edition

Storage Spaces Direct combines the internal drives of 2 to 16 servers in a cluster into a software-defined storage pool. This allows compute and storage to run on the same servers without a separate storage system. For this, Windows Server 2019 adds nested resiliency for two-node clusters, which withstands two simultaneous hardware failures, as well as a performance history for the cluster.

Support for shielded virtual machines is only available in the Datacenter edition. Shielded VMs run exclusively on guarded hosts whose health has been attested by the Host Guardian Service. In Windows Server 2019, such VMs can also run Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise Linux or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, and at sites with intermittent connectivity, a fallback Host Guardian Service or an offline mode can be used.

For software-defined networking, the edition contains Network Controller. New in Windows Server 2019 are encrypted virtual networks, in which traffic between virtual machines of a marked subnet is encrypted using DTLS. Storage Replica replicates volumes between servers or clusters for disaster recovery, in the Datacenter edition without limits on the number and size of volumes. The other new features of Windows Server 2019, such as Windows Admin Center, System Insights and Storage Migration Service, are also included.

Buy Windows Server 2019 Datacenter: licence and scope of delivery

You receive a product key to activate Windows Server 2019 Datacenter. 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 2019 is installed exclusively as a 64-bit version. The scope of delivery includes:

• the product key for Windows Server 2019 Datacenter
• 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 for the Server Core and Server with Desktop Experience installation options. Storage Spaces Direct additionally requires servers approved by Microsoft with directly attached SATA, SAS or NVMe drives or persistent memory.