Editions Description Licensing model CAL requirements Windows Server 2016 DatacenterFor highly virtualized datacenter and cloud environmentsCore basedSW CAL Windows Server 2016 StandardFor physical or minmally virtualized environmentsCore basedWS CAL Windows Server 2016 EssentialsFor small businesses with up to 25 users and 50 devicesProcessor basedNo CAL required Windows Server 2016 Multipoint Premium ServerFor Volume Licensing customers in Academic segments onlyProcessor basedWS CAL + RDS CAL Windows Storage Server 2016Standard and Workgroup editions available in the OEM channel onlyProcessor basedNo CAL required Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2016Free hypervisor downloadNANA Windows Server 2016 Edition Comparison Datacenter Edition Standard Edition Windows Server Core Functionality Yes Yes OSEs / Hyper-V containers Unlimited 2 Windows Server containers Unlimited Unlimited Nano Server Yes Yes New Storage Features including Storage Spaces Direct and Storage Replica Yes – New Shielded Virtual Machines and Host Guardian Service Yes – New networking stack Yes – Windows Server 2016 System Requirements Processor Requirements:

1.4 Ghz 64-bit processor or faster

Compatible with x64 instruction set

Supports NX, DEP, CMPXCHG16b, LAHF/SAHF, PrefetchW and Second Level Address Translation (EPT or NPT)

RAM Requirements:

512 MB of RAM or greater

ECC (Error Correcting Code) type or similar technology

Disk Space Requirements:

32GB or greater

Network Requirements:

Ethernet adapter with at least gigabit throughput

complient with PCI-E architecture

Support for Pre-boot Execution Environment (PXE)

Other Requirements (Not required to install and run Windows Server 2016, but are required for certain features):

UEFI 2.3. 1c based system

Firmware that supports secure boot

Trusted Platform Module

Graphics device and monitor capable of 1024 x 768 or higher resolution

Keyboard and Mouse

Internet Access