Windows Server 2025 Datacenter

The Datacenter edition of Windows Server 2025, for virtualised and software-defined datacentre environments.

How it differs from Standard

• Unlimited virtual machines on the licensed host, where Standard allows two
• Storage Spaces Direct and Storage Replica
• Software-defined networking
• Shielded virtual machines

Licensing model

• Licensed per physical core: minimum 16 cores per server, 8 per processor
• Client Access Licenses are required separately for connecting users or devices

Choosing between Standard and Datacenter

If you run more than a couple of VMs per host, Datacenter usually works out cheaper than repeatedly licensing Standard. Send us your host specification and we will compare the two for you.