When a server is purchased from Dell with a Windows Server OS, the Certificate of Authenticity (COA) sticker attached to the server contains two product keys: a physical key, which is used to activate the host OS; and a virtual key, which is used to activate virtual machines (VMs) running as guests on that server, provided those VMs are running the exact OS edition specified on the sticker. For example, a virtual key for Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition can only be used to activate VMs running Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition on that host. It will not activate Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Datacenter Edition, or any other version of Windows.
When a server is purchased from Dell with a Windows Server OS, the COA sticker attached to the server contains a single product key, which is used to activate both the host OS and VMs running as guests on that server, provided those VMs are running the OS edition specified on the sticker. For example, a key for Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter Edition can only be used to activate the host OS and VMs running Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter Edition on that host. It will not activate Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard Edition or any other version of Windows. All instances of the phrases "virtual key" and "physical key" below apply to this single key; although there is no separate key for the virtual machines, the same rules apply. Note, however, that this does not apply to Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter Edition with Reassignment Rights. The OS license is not bound to the physical server in that situation, and the COA sticker will not be attached to a server but to a card shipped with it.
Product key for windows server 2008 r2 datacenter edition
The issue arises because the virtual key is bound to the physical server in a manner similar to how the physical key is bound to it, though there are some differences in Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2. The virtual key has an activation count and activation limit associated with it. As long as it is only used to activate VMs on its bound physical host, the key's activation count does not increase. Using it to activate a VM on a different host, however, increases the activation count. This most commonly occurs when a VM is migrated to a different node in a virtualization host cluster. When an OEM-licensed VM in a virtualization host cluster is migrated to another node, it may lose its activation status and must be reactivated using the virtual key of the node on which it now resides. If the wrong virtual key is used to reactivate the VM, that key's activation count is increased.
Windows Server 2008 Standard. This version has built-in, enhanced Web and virtualization capabilities, powerful tools that give customers greater control over their servers and streamline configuration and management tasks, and enhanced security features that work to harden the operating system to help protect their data and network and provide a solid, highly-dependable foundation for businesses. With Windows Server 2008 Standard edition, customers get one virtual instance per license.
Windows Web Server 2008. Designed to be used as a single-purpose Web server, Windows Web Server 2008 delivers a rock-solid foundation of Web infrastructure capabilities in the next-generation Windows Server 2008. Integrated with the newly re-architected Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0, ASP.NET, and the Microsoft .NET Framework, Windows Web Server 2008 helps enable any organization rapidly deploy Web pages, Web sites, Web applications and Web services.
All will be available in 32-bit or 64-bit versions, with the exception of Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems, which will only be available as a 64-bit version. Other changes include the availability of Windows Web Server 2008, a 64-bit edition of Web server. The Hyper-V feature will only be available with 64-bit editions of Windows Server 2008.
In response to industry and customer demands for more comprehensive technical support of virtual machines, Kelly also announced the Server Virtualization Validation Program. Beginning in June 2008, vendors will be able to self-test and validate certain technical requirements of their server virtualization software running Windows Server 2008 and prior versions. The program will enable Microsoft to offer cooperative technical support to customers running Windows Server on validated, non-Windows server virtualization software.
The first and most important thing to know is that this upgrade has several stages. Don't expect to be able to put a Windows Server 2022 ISO into a Windows Server 2008 R2 server, selecting install, and have a fully updated Windows Server 2022 machine a few restarts later.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you'll need access to a valid product key for each stage of the process. That means if you're upgrading from Windows Server 2008 R2 to Windows Server 2012 R2, you'll need a valid product key for Windows Server 2012 R2. The same goes for upgrading from Windows Server 2012 R2 to Windows Server 2022.
Enhancements in Windows Server 2008 R2 include new functionality for Active Directory, new virtualization and management features, version 7.5 of the Internet Information Services web server and support for up to 256[13] logical processors. It is built on the same kernel used with the client-oriented Windows 7, and is the first server operating system released by Microsoft to exclusively support 64-bit processors, a move which was followed by the consumer-oriented Windows 11 in 2021. Windows Server 2008 R2 is also the last version of Windows to support Itanium processors; its successor, Windows Server 2012, supports x64 processors only.
Seven editions of Windows Server 2008 R2 were released: Foundation, Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web, HPC Server and Itanium, as well as Windows Storage Server 2008 R2. A home server variant called Windows Home Server 2011 was also released.
Windows Server 2008 R2 supports up to 64 physical processors[25] or up to 256 logical processors per system. (Only the Datacenter and Itanium editions can take advantage of the capability of 64 physical processors. Enterprise, the next-highest edition after those two, can only use 8.)[26] When deployed in a file server role, new File Classification Infrastructure services allow files to be stored on designated servers in the enterprise based on business naming conventions, relevance to business processes and overall corporate policies.[27]
There are also no changes in the Foundation edition of the product. This edition is only available as an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) license, pre-installed on new hardware. It provides a license for one processor and covers up to 15 users. The users do not need a CAL to access the server.
There is one slight change in the Essentials edition, but it is for the better. With the original (R1) version of the product, the Essentials edition could be used either in a physical environment or in a virtual environment, but not both. If you ran it virtually, you had to provide your own hypervisor for the server. But now with the R2 version a physical instance can be used to support a virtual instance. The product also now includes a wizard to walk you through setting up the virtual machine. As before, Essentials provides a license for a server with up to two processors and covers up to 75 users. The users do not need a CAL to access the server.
nice article. I am windows server 2008 SP2, and i want to convert its edition from Standard to Datacenter using KMS, i have already done it for windows 2008 r2 as described above, how can i convert from window 2008 sp2 to data center, please advise.saif
Windows Server 2008 R2, Datacenter Edition is a high-end datacenter class version of the operating system that supports very large-scale server operations. The Datacenter Edition supports organizations that need more than eight core processors. The Datacenter Edition is focused at organizations that need scale-up server technology to support a large centralized data warehouse on one or limited numbers of server clusters.
As noted in Chapter 34 on performance and capacity analysis, an organization can scale-out or scale-up its server applications. Scale-out refers to an application that performs better when it is distributed across multiple servers, whereas scale-up refers to an application that performs better when more processors are added to a single system. Typical scale-out applications include web server services, electronic messaging systems, and file and print servers. In those cases, organizations are better off distributing the application server functions to multiple Windows Server 2008 R2, Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition systems, or even Windows Web Server 2008 R2 systems. However, applications that scale-up, such as e-commerce or data warehousing applications, benefit from having all the data and processing on a single server cluster. For these applications, Windows Server 2008 R2, Datacenter Edition provides better centralized scaled performance as well as the added benefit of fault tolerance and failover capabilities
My question is we have MAK key for Windows server 2012 DataCenter & we would like to create different Virtual machines with different editions of OS like Win Server 2012 Stnd, Win Server 2008 Std etc. But when we try to put the same Win 2012 Datacenter edition key in standard edtion it does not work. How to use the key for activating Virtual machines.
Thats fine vCenter has nothging to do with Windows license so point is if we have windows server 2012 datacenter license how can we use that license in VMWare so that Virtual mahines of different version of WIndows can be deployed.
In place of the licensed version, you may run prior versions or lower editions in any of the OSEs of the licensed server. If you have Windows Server 2012 Datacenter edition you will have the right to run the bits of any prior version or lower edition (Datacenter, Enterprise, Standard or Essentials). If you have Windows Server 2012 Standard edition, you will have the right to run the bits of any prior version of Enterprise, Standard or Essentials edition. You should remember that the ability to run previous version or edition bits does not change the licensing or support terms in which you can use the product; the purchased product (Windows Server 2012) rights apply. This means that the license will continue to cover two physical processors and the virtualization rights do not change. 2ff7e9595c
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