Editions Description Licensing model CAL requirements Windows Server 2016 Datacenter For highly virtualized datacenter and cloud environments Core based SW CAL Windows Server 2016 Standard For physical or minmally virtualized environments Core based WS CAL Windows Server 2016 Essentials For small businesses with up to 25 users and 50 devices Processor based No CAL required Windows Server 2016 Multipoint Premium Server For Volume Licensing customers in Academic segments only Processor based WS CAL + RDS CAL Windows Storage Server 2016 Standard and Workgroup editions available in the OEM channel only Processor based No CAL required Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2016 Free hypervisor download NA NA 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