Windows Server 2012 Standard and Essentials User CAL's

I've been running Windows Server 2012 Essentials in an organization that until recently stayed within the 25 user 50 network device limit specified by the license. Eventually we've grown beyond that. Since the Server 2012 Essentials machine had a non-transferable
OEM license I decided not to waste it by doing an in-place migration to Server 2012 Standard, and instead set up a new server with freshly purchased Server 2012 R2 Standard and migrated Active Domain roles to it, leaving the original server as a part of a
fail-over cluster.
We purchased 30 User CAL's for the 2012 R2, as required for 25+ staff members.
Now I am curious. The 2 servers that we have right now (2012 R2 Standard and 2012 Essentials) both maintain the same Active Directory and manage the same pool of users and workstations. Does that mean that the primary server with 30 User CAL's takes dominance
and sets the limit as to how many people are allowed to access the network. Or does it become a combination of purchased 30 CAL's + 25 Users hard-wired into the 2012 Essential edition?
Do these servers have to run separate domains with segregated pools of users in order to be license compliant for 30+ users or can they exist within the same same domain preserving individual user limits? What if the 2012 Essentials server maintains
one office location with fewer than 25 staff and the Standard R2 2012 server runs another office with fewer than 30 staff, while both offices are linked via a VPN for the purpose of sharing 3rd party licenses? Do individual user limits apply, or is it still
30 users max?
To sum up the question, I'd like to know whether I'd need to buy more user CAL's when we reach more than 30 staff at 1 or possibly 2 office locations.
Oh, and the device limit! 2012 R2 Standard under user CAL licensing scheme has no machine limits. Essentials is always capped at 50. When running one active directory, what's the legally allowed number of devices on the network? I assume it's unlimited.
Thanks.

Thank you for the reply.
My question then is how to transition while preferably keeping both physical servers.
Should a 2012 Standard key be purchased additionally for an in-place transition of 2012 Essentials machine to 2012 Standard (which at this point is as good as a fresh install)? Until then, should the Essentials 2012 server be taken offline entirely?
What about the situation where I described both servers running segregated networks with their own pools of users, only connected via a VPN for 3rd party license sharing? Is that configuration supported?
Also, if the configurations is unsupported, why are the servers able to share roles in first place? Why isn't there a software mechanism preventing interaction? What configuration do the servers themselves assume is in place?
Thanks again.

Similar Messages

REMOTE DESKTOP SERVICES CLIENT ACCESS LICENSES FOR MICROSOFT WINDOWS SERVER 2012 STANDARD AND DATACENTER

I am using a window 7 professional service pack 1 and I purchase REMOTE DESKTOP SERVICES CLIENT ACCESS LICENSES FOR MICROSOFT WINDOWS SERVER 2012 STANDARD AND DATACENTER. but the seller did not send me any installation CD or instruction
on how to use it.
Please how can I use it on my window 7 professional service pack 1.
Thank you.

Though Bill is absolutely correct for most CALs, Remote Desktop Services does have its own special licensing server. I haven't installed one on 2012, yet, but here is a step-by-step guide for 2008.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd983943(v=ws.10).aspx
Here is a lab guide for 2012 -
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj134160.aspx
But, the explanation of your environment begs the question - what are you trying to do? You say you have a desktop OS and you are talking about Windows Server products. In that light, your question does not make a lot of sense.
. : | : . : | : . tim

Hyper-v Role in Windows Server 2012 foundation and Essentials

Hello,
I have seen that the two low cost version of Windows Server 2012 essential and Foundation) will not support hyper-v. Can you please tell me what it means exactly :
Can you please tell me what is possible :
-The server can not be installed as a hyper-v guest (probably yes)
-The hyper-v role can not be installed on the server (so I have to rely on vmware)?
- Hyper-v role can be installed but there is no free license included with the server.
Thank you
Marc

I suppose then, you would have to install Windows 8 and Hyper-V as your guest or core.
Then run your Server 2012 Foundation under Win8. which has 512GB Memory Limit.
It seems asinine that you cannot install this role on Foundation, but seemingly you could work around it with Win8. (Or Sun Virtual Box (free) (or VmWare(Free).
So load up a dozen Win8Pro virutal sessions on that Win8 VirtualBox with up to 512GB Memory and Create your own Ghetto Remote Desktop Server with Foundation and Windows 8. ;)
What good is it if your can't run Hyper-V and Remote desktop services? Those are the two apps small business need most. But Microsoft strips it out, calls it a DEAL (Essentials and Foundation) , yet if you want the good stuff, you're gonna
have to buy Server 2012 Standard anyhow, + the CALs.
So you are hooked into this "deal" by Microsoft Special Offer. Its special alright, because you get to buy it twice. The stripped down version that come with your server, then the full version when you discover Foundatoin and Essentials gives
you AD, and thats it. Nothing Else. No "deal"
Remember:
All you get with Foundation or Essentials is AD and Group Policy.
You cannot load RDP on Foundation or Essentials
You cannot load Exchange on a DC, or Foundation or Essentials
You cannot load Exchange and RDP on the same box.
You cannot have Remote Web Apps if you load RDP on your DC.
You cannot win with Microsoft. No worthwhile "deal" has ever come out of the city of Redmond.
The internet is a one-way money pipeline to Microsoft.
Its three times the work, three times the cost and requires three servers licenses to do with 2012, what you could do with one 2008R2 license.
Might as well purchase 2 Server 2013 Standard Editions if you want:
1.) Active Directory
2.) Remote Desktop and Remote Apps
3.) Your own Exchange Server
You are better off installing a NAS if all you need is a file server.
Why bother with Foundation or Essentials? Its a "Gimmick-ware"

Acrobat X Standard on Windows Server 2012 Standard

Hi,
We are upgrading to Windows Server 2012 standard and have primary propriatory program that requires Acrobat X Standard. Will Acrobat X Standard install and run on Server 2012 Standard??
Thanx,
Mel

It should work according to the Tech Specs.
Please note Acrobat is not licensed for server use.
Automation on a server is a "no-no" too.
Please read the License: http://wwwimages.adobe.com/www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/legal/licenses-terms/pdf/Acr obat_X_suite.pdf

How to install device cals on Windows Server 2012 standard edition

Hello i have a windows server 2012 standard edition licence that i have taken on rent from an ISP.
i have created a domain controller on that.
By default only two users can use remote desktop to the server simultaneously.
My Requirement is 20 users can use remote desktop to the server at the same time.For that i have purchased 20 Delive CALs licences like volume licencing.
i have the licence number noted on the paper.
do i need to install remote desktop services first etc ?
Could anyone guide me step by step how can i install or configure so that 20 users can use remote desktop on the same time.

Hi,
Any update about the issue?
I would agree with others, you need to install Remote Desktop Services Client Access Licenses.
There are three methods by which you can install Remote Desktop Services client access licenses (RDS CALs) onto your license server:
• Install Remote Desktop Services Client Access Licenses Automatically
• Install Remote Desktop Services Client Access Licenses by Using a Web Browser
• Install Remote Desktop Services Client Access Licenses by Using the Telephone
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc725890.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396
Then you can install both Per User and Per Device CALs onto the same license server.
Regards.
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Support, contact [email protected]

Windows Server 2012 Standard License and VMs

Hi,
With one Window server 2012 Standard activated license, I will get 2 VMs. So is there a limit with Windows Server 2012 standard license I can stack and the the number of VMs I can create on one server or across servers (virtual environment). Consider that
all Windows server 2012 standard licenses are activated. If there is no limit on VM creation by add Standard license then why did Microsoft come with Data center licenses with unlimited VMs.
How does the standard license work on Vmware environment. Is there a limit on the number for VMs that we can create.
Please advise me.
Thanks.

If i had one server 2012 standard with its key, i could run it as a vm but not as a virtual host without having the license right?
a single WS2012STD license, allows you to run a server machine (hardware), if that hardware has no more than 2 processors. In this case, you can run 2 VMs, each VM is running WS2012STD. You can also run WS2012STD as the host hypervisor via Hyper-V.
So, that's really 3 OS installations, on the same 2proc machine. The limitation is that the host hypervisor OS is only permitted to do Hyper-V stuff, it's not permitted to use that OS for anything other than hypervisor functions.
If you implement in this way, you would only have purchased a single license for WS2012STD, so you would only have a single key, so you would use that key for the 3 OS installations.
If i bought the single server 2012 standard license, i'd be able to install it as a Host and activate with the key and it'd give me rights to run 2vms on it and for those vms i would have to have 2 keys to activate after installing server 2012 standart
software on them right?
see above.
if you buy via Volume Licensing, things change a little bit due to MAK/KMS keys (it gets a whole lot simpler :)
Sorry for being unclear on the clusters part, i meant HA/failover. we have 2 2008R2 enterprise servers in cluster with shared storage and i was trying to clarify how could i add more vms there.
assuming your failover solution involves traditional server hardware, each failover node is just another hardware machine, so, for each node you have to count up the procs and VMs, just as you would do for non-failover implementations.
if a server is installed and running/executing, it needs to be licensed.
with current configuration, each server is hosting 2vms and if anything happens single host can accommodate all four. I am assuming we have 2 enterprise licenses for them, but if i wanted to run 4vms on each host, we have to buy 2 more enterprise licenses
and install vm togerther with their keys?
There is no Enterprise for WS2012? (WS2012 has STD and DCE)
do you mean as in WS2008R2ENT ?
You can re-assign licenses from one machine to another machine (under the Volume Licensing terms. I'm not sure about Retail terms, you should check that). There are limitations on how often you can reassign licenses (no more than every 90days)
If hardware "fails", you are allowed to reassign the license in a shorter period than 90days.
Don
(Please take a moment to "Vote as Helpful" and/or "Mark as Answer", where applicable.
This helps the community, keeps the forums tidy, and recognises useful contributions. Thanks!)

Migrate SBS 2003 with AD and Exchange to Windows Server 2012 Standard

We are using SBS 2003 and we have configured Exchange server and AD with DNS and DHCP. Now we are planning to move SBS 2003 to Separate servers like windows server 2012 standard AD with DNS and DHCP and Windows server 2012 Standard with Exchange
2010.
Is it Possible?? we need step by step guide.
Thanks in advance.

Hi,
You probably would not find any step by step guide for this kind of migrations. If you are not comfortable with doing such migrations I would recommend to if you need to do it your self do some test migrations. Or otherwise get help by a local IT company
that is familiar with migrations.
But to give you some information, first thing before starting a migration is check the health of your SBS 2003 server / domain. Use tools like dcdiag, netdiag and best practice analyzer. I wrote a blog post about steps to think about before you start this
might help: http://blog.ronnypot.nl/?p=914
When every thing is clean you can start adding the new windows server 2012 machines as member servers to your domain.
Next you can promote one of the servers to additional domain controller on your domain (Keep in mind SBS needs to hold all FSMO roles so moving these is the last step your should do.) Also promoting a windows server 2012 to domain controller has slightly
changed, you need to install the ADDS role and follow the wizard to promote the server to a DC.
With installation of the new DC install DNS allongsite it will automatic replicate settings during confiugration.
DHCP must be installed manual, depending on your scope and settings it might be as easy to create a new scope and disable the old dhcp server.
On the server Exchange needs to be installed, make sure you install and do all pre-requirements. Than install Exchange it will automaticly detect you already have an Exchange organization and is installed as additional server. You can configure all settings
and when everything is configured right you start moving mailboxes.
When everything is moved away from the SBS 2003 server, uninstall exchange, move the FSMO roles to the new DC and after that demote the sbs 2003 server so it is not listed anymore as an additional DC in the domain. Last would be shutdown the server and remove
all records left in AD and DNS.
There is this guide for migrating SBS 2003 to windows server 2008 R2 and Exchange 2010, this might give you some usefull information, not everything will be the same but it is a good start:
http://demazter.wordpress.com/2010/04/29/migrate-small-business-server-2003-to-exchange-2010-and-windows-2008-r2/
Regards Ronny
Visit my Blog or follow me on
Twitter

Assign 2 of Windows Server 2012 Standard edition licensing question

I'm new at this and I have bought Windows 2012 Standard with 5 CALs back in January from Microsoft store on the Internet using as the host. There is Windows 2008 R2 installed as the virtual machine on the host. Few hours ago I have decided to buy another
license with 5 CALs to upgrade those even that I did need two license of Windows 2012 Standard anyway to support 4 physical processor as my server have quad core processor.
The question here that I need to ask is how do I assign 2 license of Windows Server 2012 Standard edition on the host to lift the limit and that up to 4 VMs will be allowed or does it automatically do that after upgrading to Windows 2012 Standard in
the virtual machine even that 5 CALs plus 5 CALs equal 10 CALs are done automatically?

Hello,
You have 2 questions here:
1. How can I stack multiple OS licence in order to have more virtualization rights (more VMs) running on that host?
2. How can I stack Windows CAL licence from OEM.
Answers are:
1. You only have to licence the original licence on the physical host. You can use the same license key for all 4 VMs or use 2 VM key from the first package and 2 VM keys from the second licence package you just bought.
There is nowhere to register those licence, except one by one inside the VM themselves.
You have to keep all licence document in case of control by Microsoft.
2. Windows CAL allows a user (or a computer) to connect to an unlimited number of Windows Server within your company network. You have 10 CAL so you can have up to 10 users or computers in your company that will connect to your servers (even if you have 1.000
servers)
There is nowhere to register those licence, except one by one inside the VM themselves.
You have to keep all licence document in case of control by Microsoft.
Regards
PS: The only licence that require maintenance and central registration are Remote Desktop Licences.
MCITP: Enterprise Messaging Administrator 2010 MCTS: Lync Server 2010, Configuring MCSE
That is what I thought as I was told before even seen licensing details except a direction of how to attach the second license and I had to make sure. Thank you

Is it ok to install Exchange 2013 on Windows Server 2012 Standard?

Hello everyone,
I'd like to know if it is ok/safe to install Exchange Server 2013 on Windows Server 2012 Standard?
As I started doing some research and noticed a page where Microsoft states they don't recommend running Exchange on Server 2012 Standard, and recommend making 2 different servers one for Active Directory and another for Exchange.
On that page they also listed some features that wouldn't work in case of Exchange is running on Server 2012. And that it may put a larger data load if setup this way.
I am hoping someone knowledgeable can explain and tell me if it is safe to use such setup or if it is better to use something like SBS 2011 Standard instead, which has Exchange included?
Has anyone installed Exchange 2013 on Server 2012 Standard successfully and used it for more then several months without problems?
Also just to give an idea on my background, I've been in IT field fairly long but haven't really updated to newer versions much and mainly used SBS 2003 and 2008 only with a few clients so haven't used 2008 too much.
Thanks in advance.

Few things to note.
There is
NO SBS in 2012
All you need is a Std edition of Windows for Exchange 2013, as there is no difference in features between Std and Datacenter as far as Exchange is concerned.
For 10 users, you can have one box with both AD and Exchange. It is not MS recommeded, but it IS supported.
Rajith Enchiparambil |
http://www.howexchangeworks.com |

Migrate SBS 2003 to Windows Server 2012 Standard

We currently have two servers (SBS 2003 Standard utilizing Exchange 2003; Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard with SQL 2005).
We want to retire the SBS or maybe both.
We have purchased a new server (Windows Server 2012 Standard with licenses for Exchange 2013 and SQL 2012).
Is there a whitepaper that describes how to migrate SBS 2003 to Windows Server 2012 Standard?
Is it possible to run Exchange 2013 on the Windows Server 2012 box? In Hyper-V? If Exchange can run in a virtualized instance, do we need additional licensing to run another instance of Windows Server 2012 Standard?
Can we run SQL 2012 on the same Windows Server 2012 box?
We have about 35 users.

Sal,
Migration went fine. Steps i took:
Join 2012 Standard server as member.
Migrated roles.
I ended up manually creating new shares. The old environment was a mess.
Robocopy data/verified.
Seize FSMO roles
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255504
Metadata cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/216498
Good luck

Unexpected Server Reboot on Windows Server 2012 Standard

Hi All,
I have received unexpected reboot on Windows Server 2012 Standard . After searching on the internet I found one
hotfix for this, but it is applicable for Windows 2008 R2. Link to download Windows 2008 R2
hotfix -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2732595/en-US
Can someone guide me to get a same
hotfix for Windows Server 2012 Standard.
Log Name:      System
Source:        User32
Date:          2/27/2014 7:27:17 AM
Event ID:      1074
Task Category: None
Level:         Information
Keywords:      Classic
User:          SYSTEM
Computer:      Server1.test.com
Description:
The process wininit.exe has initiated the restart of computer "Server1" on behalf of
user for the following reason: No title for this reason could be found
Reason Code: 0x50006
Shutdown Type: restart
Comment: The system process 'C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe' terminated unexpectedly with status code 255. The system will now shut down and restart.
Thank you.
Regards,
Mahesh Arban.

Hi Mahesh Arban,
Sorry for my delay.
I can’t find the same hotfix for Windows Server 2012 Standard. So, we may need to do some troubleshootings
to narrow down this issue and solve it.
Please let me confirm if you have installed all updates for this Windows Server 2012 Standard. Meanwhile, please
use Sfc command to scans and verifies the integrity of all protected system files.
In addition, this issue caused to unexpected server reboot. So, please configure and then collect the dump
file to analysis. It may help us to find the root cause of this issue.
How to read the small memory dump file that is created by Windows if a crash occurs
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315263/en-us
By the way, can you find any error messages in application log (such as Event ID 1000 or others) after this
issue occurred?
Hope this helps.
Best regards,
Justin Gu

SharePoint 2013 OS: Windows Server 2008 R2 vs Windows Server 2012 Standard

Hi Team,
We are thinking on upgrading from SharePoint 2010 to SP 2013 soon. I have been researching about the server OS I should install as host, and it seems that SharePoint 2013 is fully compatible by now with both Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard + SP1 and
Windows Server 2012 Standard. In my opinion we should go with server 2012, but Windows server 2008 is the norm here at our organization and our Infrastructure team seems reluctant to upgrade servers to 2012 yet.
My question is, what SharePoint or Windows 2012 features will we miss if we decide to stay on Windows 2008? What are the perks (selling points) of going with 2012 over 2008? (besides the obvious Microsoft support range extension).
Thanks!
-Rob.

If you stay on Windows Server 2008 R2 you will enter the extended/out of support phase sooner, of course. You will miss out on IIS improvements, although in practical terms it may not mean much.
There are extra patches required for a 2008 R2 deployment that are not needed on 2012 for SharePoint 2013. But other than that, I think the other big issue is that mostly in the community, you'll find people running Server 2012 which means issues are better
'known' by the community, versus 2008 R2 in combination with SharePoint 2013.
Trevor Seward
Follow or contact me at...
&nbsp&nbsp
This post is my own opinion and does not necessarily reflect the opinion or view of Microsoft, its employees, or other MVPs.

Is it possible to install SQL Server 2012 Standard Edition on a Windows Server 2012 Standard Which is installed on a Virtual Machine that is created by Hyper-V?

Hi
I have recently bought a Virtual Machine from a data center and installed a Windows Server 2012 Standard Edition on it. As I tried to install the SQL Server 2012 Standard Edition, the data center administrator denied me to do this telling me it is not possible
to install any licensed Microsoft software on a Windows installed on virtual machine created by Hyper-V. It was really strange for me! I wanna know if this is true.
Thanks Everybody

Hi Farid,
For SQL server running on virtual server please refer to following article :
http://blogs.technet.com/b/peeyusht/archive/2010/03/19/sql-licensing-under-virtualization.aspx
In addition , for license issue we still recommend you to contact MS Activation Center:
http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/existing-customers/activation-centers.aspx
Best Regards,
Elton Ji
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact [email protected] .

Windows Server 2012 Standard - HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 Plus printer not working after promoting to Domain Controller / AD Services

An associate and myself installed the built-in drivers for the HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 Plus multi-function (network) printer on a Windows Server 2012 Standard server installation and everything worked fine whenever I want to print anything directly from the
Windows Server machine (there's a reason for this, so please understand that ;) ).
We were able to print without any problems from the Windows Server 2012 machine, using the drivers from Microsoft. Mainly, because HP has not listed any specific support for Windows Server 2012, only Windows Server 2008 R2, however, the drivers that
came with Windows 2012 seem to work very well.
PROBLEM: I later had to promote the Windows Server 2012 to a Domain Controller, and created the Active Directory configurations, even enabled the Print Services. After doing all of that, the HP printer will not print anything. It's like all print
requests directly from the Windows Server go to Nil.
Has anyone encountered a problem like this before? The only thing I can think of is that after perhaps something affected printing directly once we promoted the server to being a DC, and added other features / roles. I even tried installing the
HP drivers for Windows Server 2008 R2, and the results are still the same...nothing prints. Trust me, the printer is set as the Default Printer and even when choosing to print, we make sure the HP OfficeJet Pro is selected, and is on, as other Windows
Client PC's can print to it directly.
Does anyone have any suggestions we could try? Thanks in advance.

While it is quite a while since this was posted - I can concur a similar issue exists.
We have spent the better part of a day trying to work out why other HP printers work fine but our 8620 prints are not printing and going to Nil. The print server is hosted on a shared DC. Comparing to the initial posters details, for some reason
it seems to be most commonly related to the OfficeJet Pro 8600/8610/8620/8630 series printers.
I ended up doing a print server migration from the domain controller to stand alone host and all printers now work from a single server rather than a mix. Domain controller OSes varied from 2008, 2012, 2012 R2 (tested with multiple) and only after
all of those failed then tried a stand alone server os machine as a last resort which worked fine. Printing directly from Win 7 / 8 /8.1 clients to the IP always worked.

I have windows server 2012 R2 and install active directory

My question is I install active directory in windows server 2012 R2 and create Group Policy. ( These set-up is only for test)
Have not registered domain only install active directory to test.
So the problem is when I created Group policy for my user and put software restriction policy but its affected to my administrator accounts too, No when I open VMware (install Virtual Machine windows XP) and start os then its shows you can not user this
software as you restricted from installing software (Something like that don't know exact Error). I could not start installed Virtual Machine.
Please give me a solution for this.
This is the setup for a test use only so their not big environment connect with my pc.
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Krunal

Hi,
The following article is talking about creating and managing Group Policy on a Windows Server 2012:
http://www.thomas-krenn.com/en/wiki/Creating_and_managing_a_Group_Policy_on_a_Windows_2012_Server
As Darren Blanchard mentioned, if you want to apply the GPO, you could link it to an OU that contain the computer or user.
Group Policy Overview
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831791.aspx
Please feel free to let us know if you need further assistance.
Regards.
Vivian Wang

Windows Server 2012 Standard and Essentials User CAL's

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for