Microsoft Windows Server 2019-2025 | Standard & Datacenter Editionen 

Standard vs. Datacenter – Key Differences

⚠️ Licensing Compliance Notice

Although technically you can install more than 2 virtual machines with the Standard edition or activate the license on a server with more than 16 cores, doing so violates Microsoft’s official licensing terms.

For example, if your server has 32 physical cores and you only purchase a 16-core license, the system will still install and activate successfully. However, you are not licensed to run Windows Server legally in that setup. Microsoft requires you to license all physical cores on the server, with a minimum of 16 cores per server and 8 cores per processor.

If audited, Microsoft may consider this as under-licensing and impose financial penalties, demand back payments, or require proper licensing to cover your server’s full hardware capacity.

Always ensure that the number of core licenses purchased matches your physical server configuration to remain compliant and avoid legal or financial risk.