Backup software ready for Windows Server 2025 with Hyper-V backup, cloud backup, VMware backup, disk cloning & imaging, P2V/V2V/V2P, and FTPS server
Backup software ready for Windows Server 2025 with Hyper-V backup, cloud backup, VMware backup, disk cloning & imaging, P2V/V2V/V2P, and FTPS server

9 Editions of Windows Server 2012 Compared At a Glance

The table below compares all nine editions of Windows Server 2012 available today: 

 

 

 Windows Server® 2012 Products and Editions
Windows Server 2012 Datacenter Windows Server 2012 Standard Windows Server 2012 Essentials Windows Server 2012 Foundation Microsoft Hyper-V® Server 2012 Windows Storage Server 2012 Standard Windows Storage Server 2012 Workgroup Windows MultiPoint Server 2012 Premium Windows MultiPoint Server 2012 Standard
Locks and Limits
Maximum number of users based on licenses based on licenses 25 15 unlimited unlimited 50 20 sessions 10 sessions
Maximum SMB Connections 16,777,216 16,777,216 16777216 30 16,777,216 16,777,216 250 16,777,216 50
Maximum RRAS Connections unlimited unlimited 50 50 250 50 50 unlimited 50
Maximum IAS Connections 2,147,483,647 2,147,483,647 10 10 50 50 50 2147483647 10
Maximum number of 64-bit sockets 64 64 2 1 64 64 1 2 1
Maximum RAM 4 TB 4 TB 64 GB 32 GB 4 TB 4 TB 32 GB 4 TB 32 GB
Server can join a domain Yes Yes For migration only For migration only Yes Yes Yes Yes No
DirectAccess Yes Yes See documentation Yes No Yes Yes See documentation See documentation
Server Roles
Active Directory® Certificate Services Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
Active Directory Domain Services Yes Yes Required Yes (optional) No No No No No
Active Directory Federation Services Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
AD Lightweight Directory Services Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No No
AD Rights Management Services Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
Application Server Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes
DHCP Server Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes
DNS Server Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes
Fax Server Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes
File Services Yes Yes Yes Yes Limited features Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hyper-V Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes No
Network Policy and Access Services Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes
Print and Document Services Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Terminal Services Application Sharing Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes Yes
Terminal Services Gateway Yes Yes No See documentation No No No Yes Yes
Web Services (IIS) Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Windows Deployment Services Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes
Windows Media Services support (Streaming Media Services) See Installation Options documentation See Installation Options documentation Yes See Installation Options documentation No No No Yes Yes
WINS Server Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes
Features
RODC – read only domain controller Yes Yes No No No No No No No
Best Practices Analyzer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
BranchCache Hosted Server Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No
BranchCache P2P Cache Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No
Windows Control Panel Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Distributed File System Replication Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No
Data Deduplication Yes Yes No No No Yes No No No
ISCSI target support Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No
DirectAccess Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes See documentation See documentation
Dynamic Memory (in virtualization) Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes
Failover Clustering Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No No
“Hot” add/replace RAM Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
IPAM (IP Address Management) Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Microsoft Management Console Yes Yes Yes Yes Remote only Yes Yes Yes Yes
Minimal Server Interface Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No
Network Load Balancing Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Windows PowerShell Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Server Core mode Yes Yes No No Yes–the only option after setup after setup No No
Server Manager Yes Yes Yes Yes From a remote computer Yes Yes Yes Yes
SMB Direct and SMB over RDMA Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Storage Management Service Yes Yes Yes Yes Basic file server only Yes Yes Yes Yes
Storage Spaces Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Volume Activation Services Yes Yes No No No No No Yes Yes
VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) integration Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Windows Server Update Services Yes Yes See documentation No No No No No No

 

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