Windows Server® 2012 R2 Products and Editions
Windows Server Windows Server Windows Server Windows Server
2012 R2
2012 R2 Standard
2012 R2
2012 R2
Datacenter
Essentials
Foundation
Microsoft Hyper-V® Windows Storage Windows Storage
Server 2012 R2
Server 2012 R2
Server 2012 R2
Standard
Workgroup
Locks and Limits
Maximum number of users
Maximum SMB Connections
Maximum RRAS Connections
Maximum IAS Connections
Maximum number of 64-bit sockets
Maximum RAM
Server can join a domain
DirectAccess
based on licenses
16,777,216
unlimited
2,147,483,647
64
4 TB
Yes
Yes
based on licenses
16,777,216
unlimited
2,147,483,647
64
4 TB
Yes
Yes
25
16777216
50
50
2
64 GB
For migration only
See documentation
15
30
50
10
1
32 GB
For migration only
Yes
unlimited
16,777,216
250
50
64
4 TB
Yes
No
unlimited
16,777,216
50
50
64
4 TB
Yes
Yes
50
250
50
50
1
32 GB
Yes
Yes
Active Directory® Certificate Services
Active Directory Domain Services
Active Directory Federation Services
AD Lightweight Directory Services
AD Rights Management Services
Application Server
DHCP Server
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Required
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes (optional)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
DNS Server
Fax Server
File Services
Hyper-V
Network Policy and Access Services
Print and Document Services
Remote Access
Terminal Services Application Sharing
Terminal Services Gateway
Web Services (IIS)
Windows Deployment Services
Windows Essentials
Windows Media Services support (Streaming
Media Services)
WINS Server
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
See Installation Options
documentation
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
See Installation Options
documentation
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Default
Yes
No
No
Limited features
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
See documentation
Yes
Yes
No
See Installation Options
documentation
Yes
No
Yes
No
RODC – read only domain controller
Automatic Virtual Machine Activation
Best Practices Analyzer
BranchCache Hosted Server
BranchCache P2P Cache
Windows Control Panel
Distributed File System Replication
Data Deduplication
ISCSI target support
DirectAccess
Dynamic Memory (in virtualization)
Failover Clustering
Yes
Both guest and host
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
As guest
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
As guest
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
"Hot" add/replace RAM
IPAM (IP Address Management)
Microsoft Management Console
Minimal Server Interface
Network Load Balancing
Support for Non-volatile Memory Express
Windows PowerShell
Server Core mode
Server license logging
Server Manager
SMB Direct and SMB over RDMA
Storage Management Service
Storage Spaces
Volume Activation Services
VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service)
integration
Windows Server Update Services
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Remote only
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes--the only option
Yes
From a remote computer
Yes
Basic file server only
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
after setup
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
after setup
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Server Roles
Features