Windows 2016 Licensing Cores

Windows server 2016 has been released.

Windows 2016 licensing cores.

This translates to you needing to purchase a minimum of 8x two core packs for every two physical processors in your server. To give you a more consistent licensing experience across multi cloud environments we transitioned from processor based licensing to core based licensing for windows server 2019 datacenter and standard editions. Things just got a lot more complicated. Microsoft s windows server 2016 due in the third quarter of 2016 will be moving from per processor to per core pricing.

This is the equivalent of a regular standard windows server 2012 r2 license. Windows server standard and datacenter editions continue to require windows server cals for every user or device accessing a server see the product terms for exceptions or windows server external connector licenses for servers accessed by external users. You simply select the edition standard or datacenter input the number of processors and cores that need to be licensed and it will calculate the number and type of licenses that are required. For specific pricing contact your microsoft reseller.

We ve been receiving a number of questions recently about how to properly license an environment with windows server 2016. Microsoft windows server 2016 to move to per core licensing. Hpe has created a windows server 2016 core licensing calculator to help you determine the licensing requirements for your customers systems.