17 replies to this topic

[osuwildlifer]

Hello folks,

I've noticed that my Microsoft Volume Licensing portal shows Server 2012 Standard and Datacenter versions, but no Enterprise.

Can anyone point me to information that will either explain this or suggest that an Enterprise version will eventually show up?

Thanks!

Edit: I should add that this is for my workplace account. We have had access to Enterprise versions of every server OS so far.

[Virtunate]

With the new licensing model in Server 2012, Standard is the new Enterprise. What features are you looking for that you need from Enterprise?

If you're looking for a full comparison, check out this Wikipedia page for a full list of features (http://en.wikipedia....r_2012#Editions)

[PGHammer]

Virtunate, on 10 November 2012 - 02:24, said:

With the new licensing model in Server 2012, Standard is the new Enterprise. What features are you looking for that you need from Enterprise?

If you're looking for a full comparison, check out this Wikipedia page for a full list of features (http://en.wikipedia....r_2012#Editions)

That's pretty square-on - Datacenter Server replaces both Enterprise Server and (understandably) HPC Server, while Standard replaces everything else (and, based on what it includes, *should* have replaced Windows Home Server, as Standard includes the useful-from-the-get-go Hyper-V support that Server Essentials lacks).

The pain in the rear with Standard is that if you use it as a Home Server replacement, you're going to wind up with a multirole server, as it pretty much forces you into the domain model for a standalone server; once you go down THAT road, you might as well make it a *server of servers* (multiple virtual servers hosted via Hyper-V). With multiple VMs (even if just servers), the CPU won't be the bog-down point (unless you're running multiple virtual SQL Server databases) as Hyper-V is surprisingly thrifty when it comes to CPU cycles, but memory may be; good thing DDR3 (standard unbuffered) is silly-cheap.

For the server build itself, for a home or other non-production server (including a test lab), my motherboard recommendation is, weirdly enough, identical to that for a gaming PC - i5 and a Z-series chipset (LGA1155). However, because this *is* a server, it need not be either a K-series (unlocked) or even Ivy Bridge CPU - a Sandy Bridge i5 is just fine. For the GPU side of the server, AMD's HD7750 makes all too much sense (no aux power needed *and* it can be leveraged by RemoteFX, which further de-leverages the CPU)

[+remixedcat]

I got a Server 2012 setup here.

I got an i5 3570K and 16GB RAM on an Asrock z77 pro3 mobo.... now for remoteFX you will need to install desktop services roles and it's a lot of stuff to install... this is in order to use the GPU features.... if you don't install this you end up with standard graphics.

[osuwildlifer]

Sorry for not getting back to this after my original question. Thanks for the replies.

I wasn't really looking for any additional features... just wondering what had changed in their licensing model. It seems like a pretty big change to go from thousands of businesses using Enterprise versions to using the Standard version in 2012. Seems to me that it would have been a good idea for MS to provide a ton of information about this change beforehand.

[osuwildlifer]

remixedcat, on 09 December 2012 - 14:07, said:

I got a Server 2012 setup here.

I got an i5 3570K and 16GB RAM on an Asrock z77 pro3 mobo.... now for remoteFX you will need to install desktop services roles and it's a lot of stuff to install... this is in order to use the GPU features.... if you don't install this you end up with standard graphics.

Am I correct in assuming that you mean the Remote Desktop Services role?

[THE_OBSERVER]

remixedcat, on 09 December 2012 - 14:07, said:

I got a Server 2012 setup here.

I got an i5 3570K and 16GB RAM on an Asrock z77 pro3 mobo.... now for remoteFX you will need to install desktop services roles and it's a lot of stuff to install... this is in order to use the GPU features.... if you don't install this you end up with standard graphics.

Got a Server2012 Install, was looking at the RemoteFX, but i think ill wait till i get a better video card.

[briangw]

Virtunate, on 10 November 2012 - 02:24, said:

With the new licensing model in Server 2012, Standard is the new Enterprise. What features are you looking for that you need from Enterprise?

If you're looking for a full comparison, check out this Wikipedia page for a full list of features (http://en.wikipedia....r_2012#Editions)

So where does Cluster Failover Manager come in? It used to be an Enterprise feature but I don't see it in the list.

[+remixedcat]

Correct

osuwildlifer, on 11 December 2012 - 00:51, said:

Am I correct in assuming that you mean the Remote Desktop Services role?

[osuwildlifer]

remixedcat, on 11 December 2012 - 03:47, said:

Correct

So, i just went through the process of getting the Desktop Experience installed on my Server 2012 VM. It's actually not necessary to install the Remote Desktop Services role at all. If you go to the Select Features screen in the Add Roles & Features Wizard, you'll see User Interfaces and Infrastructure. This includes Graphical Management Tools, Desktop Experience, and Server Graphical Shell. Install these, reboot, and your server looks much like a Windows 8 desktop. You could also just run "this dism /online /enable-feature /all /featurename:desktopExperience"

Here's a good link on the topic: http://www.win2012wo...top-experience/

[UXGaurav]

And Server 2012 Standard (with all the Enterprise goodness) is on DreamSpark!

[PGHammer]

MsftGaurav, on 14 December 2012 - 12:26, said:

And Server 2012 Standard (with all the Enterprise goodness) is on DreamSpark!

It is on Website Spark as well (a new-for-2012 subset of DreamSpark - thanks to remixedcat for telling me about that); I'm dual-booting 8 and Server 2012 Standard; unlike 8, Server 2012 does *not* require SLAT/EPT unless you install RemoteFX (which works with any GPU that supports DX11 or greater - do you typically see big honking GPUs in a server?). For that reason, I find Server 2012 quite usable in the Hyper-V role.

There are only three paid versions of Windows Server 2012 - Essentials (replaces Small Business Server and Home Server), Standard (which also replaces Enterprise) and Datacenter (which also replaces Multipoint and HPC Server).

Still available (and free) is Hyper-V Server (semi-bare-metal virtualization server that targets Xen and other free hypervisors - in addition to being remotable via PowerShell, it also includes a hyperminimal GUI).

[Kaedrin]

osuwildlifer, on 11 December 2012 - 00:24, said:

Sorry for not getting back to this after my original question. Thanks for the replies.

I wasn't really looking for any additional features... just wondering what had changed in their licensing model. It seems like a pretty big change to go from thousands of businesses using Enterprise versions to using the Standard version in 2012. Seems to me that it would have been a good idea for MS to provide a ton of information about this change beforehand.

Sorry, I don't have my vendor's PDF's on hand right now, but I'll list what I know. I'm assuming you have SA. If you check through your 2012 license counts, conversion should be as follows:

Every license of Server 2008 R2 Enterprise you owned has become 2 licenses of Server 2012 Standard.

Every license of Server 2008 R2 Enterprise you owned "may" have also become 1 license of System Center 2012 Standard. I am not 100% positive on this, however in reading my vendors 2012 product change guides, it indicates that any “Enterprise” license becomes 1 System Center Standard license, and I did gain a number of "phantom" System Center Standard licenses that are equal in number to my Windows Enterprise licenses.

For every 2 single processor licenses of Server 2008 R2 Datacenter owned, you gain 1 Server 2012 Datacenter license that covers two processors.

For every 2 single processor licenses of SMSD owned, you gain 1 System Center 2012 Datacenter license that covers two processors.

Every individual license you had of a prior System Center product with SA has become 1 System Center 2012 Standard license. If you had 2 SCCM licenses, 2 SCOM licenses, 1 SCVMM license, you gained a total of 5 System Center 2012 Standard licenses.

For sake of licensing and processor counts, you are now always supposed to round up to an even number. If your server has one processor, licensing requires you count it as two.

If your server is running Server 2012 Standard and is running 1-2 Server 2012 Standard VM, its consuming 1 license. If it’s running 3-4 Server 2012 Standard VM’s, it’s consuming 2 Server 2012 Standard licenses.


There are additional conversions I'm not entirely recalling because I didn't own any.

[+remixedcat]

osuwildlifer, on 14 December 2012 - 12:21, said:

So, i just went through the process of getting the Desktop Experience installed on my Server 2012 VM. It's actually not necessary to install the Remote Desktop Services role at all. If you go to the Select Features screen in the Add Roles & Features Wizard, you'll see User Interfaces and Infrastructure. This includes Graphical Management Tools, Desktop Experience, and Server Graphical Shell. Install these, reboot, and your server looks much like a Windows 8 desktop. You could also just run "this dism /online /enable-feature /all /featurename:desktopExperience"

Here's a good link on the topic: http://www.win2012wo...top-experience/

I meant that for remoteFX for Hyper-V VMs.

and Server 2012 FTW!!!

[osuwildlifer]

remixedcat, on 14 December 2012 - 16:07, said:

I meant that for remoteFX for Hyper-V VMs.

Whoops... totally missed that. I don't know much about RemoteFX yet, but am reading up on it now. I doubt the GeForce 8600GT in my "server" box is enough to utilize it.

Quote

and Server 2012 FTW!!!

Yeah, it's pretty slick for the most part. Can't say I like them mirroring the Windows 8 interface for a server OS in production environments, but it does have some great features.