Windows Server Licensing Comparison

Determine which edition is best for your environment

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2025
2022
2019
Windows Server Version/Edition
Feature 2025 Standard 2025 Datacenter 2022 Standard 2022 Datacenter 2019 Standard 2019 Datacenter
Processing Power 16 core minimum 16 core minimum 16 core minimum 16 core minimum 16 core minimum 16 core minimum
CALs Per User/Device Per User/Device Per User/Device Per User/Device Per User/Device Per User/Device
VM Support 2 VMs (per fully licensed host) Unlimited 2 VMs (per fully licensed host) Unlimited 2 VMs (per fully licensed host) Unlimited
Core Functionality βœ”βœ” βœ”βœ” βœ”βœ”
Hybrid integration βœ”βœ” βœ”βœ”
OSEs/Hyper-V isolated containers 2Unlimited 2Unlimited 2Unlimited
Windows Server Containers UnlimitedUnlimited UnlimitedUnlimited βœ”βœ”
Storage Migration Service βœ”βœ” βœ”βœ” βœ”βœ”
Storage Replica βœ”βœ” βœ”βœ” βœ”
Software-defined networking βœ” βœ”
Software-defined storage βœ” βœ”
Host Guardian Service βœ”βœ” βœ”βœ” βœ”βœ”
Nano Server βœ”βœ” βœ”βœ” βœ”βœ”
Shielded Virtual Machines βœ” βœ” βœ”
Networking stack βœ” βœ” βœ”
Hotpatching via Azure Arc βœ”βœ”
SMB over QUIC βœ”βœ”
Windows 11 Desktop Shell βœ”βœ”
GPU partitioning (GPU-P) βœ”βœ”
NVMe performance boost βœ”βœ”
Storage Spaces Direct βœ”
Advanced SDN βœ”
Shielded VMs βœ”

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