Does Windows Server 2016 use less resources than Windows 10?

[Elliot B.]

I have bought a used Dell Precision T1600, consisting of:

 

• Intel Xeon E3-1270 (4 core, 8 thread)
• 8 GB DDR3 RAM
• AMD FirePro 2270 (512 MB)
• Western Digital Green SSD for boot drive
• 2x 5 TB SATA3 3.5" HDDs

 

I'll be using it as a basic Plex Media Server.

 

1. Do you think I'll have any benefits of using Windows Server 2016 over Windows 10? I'm thinking less Universal Apps pre-installed, for one.
2. Does it use less resources? Perhaps uses less unnecessary background services?
3. Is there something in Windows 10 (perhaps some kind of media foundation that may help with Plex) that doesn't exist in Windows Server 2016?

Edited March 30, 2018 by Elliot B.

[Farchord]

  On 30/03/2018 at 12:58, Elliot B. said:

I have bought a used Dell Precision T1600, consisting of:

 

• Intel Xeon E3-1270 (4 core, 8 thread)
• 8 GB DDR3 RAM
• AMD FirePro 2270 (512 MB)
• Western Digital Green SSD for boot drive
• 2x 5 TB SATA3 3.5" HDDs

 

I'll be using it as a basic Plex Media Server.

 

Do you think I'll have any benefits of using Windows Server 2016 over Windows 10? Does it use less resources?

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For that kind of workload, I don't think so no. Let's say we put the cost of 2016 out of the equation, Server 2016 is basically Windows 10 at this point with some optimizations and business-oriented features. 

 

For a plesk server, you probably would have a better experience running Linux though, as lightweight as possible. 

[Elliot B.]

  On 30/03/2018 at 13:01, Farchord said:

For that kind of workload, I don't think so no. Let's say we put the cost of 2016 out of the equation, Server 2016 is basically Windows 10 at this point with some optimizations and business-oriented features. 

 

For a plesk server, you probably would have a better experience running Linux though, as lightweight as possible. 

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I intend to disable a lot of background services etc., no matter which system I choose.

 

I may even give NTLite a go, to strip some rubbish out.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

in your case, it wouldnt be worth the huge mark-up to buy Server 2016. in my experience, servers always have a ton of more features to load when windows starts anyway so you'd have a lot more processes running requiring more RAM.

 

that said, if you need certain Server-only features...

[Ve7878]

I would recommend against this, if you're using this just for a Plex server, there is no good reason why you'd need the extra expense of Windows Server 2016. Also bear in mind that Windows 2016 and Windows 10 are not at the same level, 2016 is similar to Windows 10 1607. If you want 1709 you'd have to settle for Server Core which probably is not what you're looking for on that machine. 

 

Also you'd have to buy CALS. 

 

I would recommend a standard Windows 10 Pro installation for that machine. Remove anything you don't want, turn off background apps if you're not bothered about store apps. Set the updates to Semi-Annual & defer for 365 days. Perhaps adjust performance to background services rather than programs. 

[Mando]

i see no reason at all to use a server os for desktop use, its overkill and pointless.

 

The only plus i could see is no 10 concurrent connections limit, but in a normal household thats not going to be an issue ever, plus buying Cals for any more than 5 concurrents makes buying server OS against any SKU of W10 for this project a waste of time and money.

 

what it doesnt have that window 10 has, it has more server oriented services and features, negating any improvement. 

[Circaflex]

  On 30/03/2018 at 13:02, Elliot B. said:

I intend to disable a lot of background services etc., no matter which system I choose.

 

I may even give NTLite a go, to strip some rubbish out.

Expand  

 

There is absolutely no reason to do this anymore. We are no longer running machines with single core processors and 1gb of memory. There is no reason to disable/remove services and do the "extreme" tweaks we did with XP. It causes more harm than good down the road. If this were my machine and it was only going to serve as a Plex server, I would run an instance of Linux on it and be done with it. If you want to use the machine for other purposes, along with Plex, I would throw an extra copy of 7 or 10 on it. You will not see a performance difference in your use case between 10 and server, if your only reasoning to use Server was because the performance would be better, you can scratch that off your list.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

How about FreeBSD or Linux? If you're just using it as a server...Plex has server installation packages for them. Or at least try it (unless you already have a couple of Windows licenses laying around)...

 

As pointed out, Server 2016 would be overkill.