Feature differences between standard and datacenter with Windows Server 2016

Understand the key differences between the standard and datacenter SKUs with Windows Server 2016.

John Savill

December 19, 2015

1 Min Read
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Q. What are the feature differences between datacenter and standard with Windows Server 2016?

A. Windows Server 2012 standardized features between the standard and datacenter SKUs with the only difference being virtual instance rights. For Windows Server 2016 there are some major new enterprise features that will only be available in the datacenter SKU. Specifically these features are:

  • Storage Replica and Storage Spaces Direct

  • Shielded virtual machines and the host guardian service

  • New networking stack based around Azure networking stack

Note that both standard and datacenter will support the new Nano server feature. More information on the feature differences and 2016 in general can be found at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/products/windows-server-2016/

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