Windows Server 2016 Licensing Virtual Machines

I have a server with two processors and 10 cores each.

Windows server 2016 licensing virtual machines.

Licensing a windows server for three vms. Remember that microsoft requires you to buy at least 8 core licenses for each processor. I have purchased windows server 2016 volume licensing and i have the keys. Hyper v windows server understanding windows server virtual machine licensing 06 feb 2018 by eric siron 2 as most everyone now knows microsoft changed their windows server licensing model with the release of the windows server 2016 family.

Small businesses with up to. Windows server standard and datacenter editions continue to require windows server cals for every user or device accessing a server see the product terms for exceptions or windows server external connector licenses for servers accessed by external users. Virtualization rights only apply to windows server vms. My question is how do i license these virtual machines.

In addition to the base windows server cal or external connector license some functionalities will continue to require the purchase of an. Windows server 2019 edition. Automatic virtual machine activation avma is a technology introduced in windows server 2012 r2 that allows simplified activation of virtual machines vms running in hyper v on a host running the datacenter edition of windows server 2016 or windows server 2012 r2. Which makes it 20 cores in total i have installed and licensed esxi 6 standard and i have created four virtual machines running windows server 2016.

For example physical server with hypervisor with windows server 2012 is broken and i temporary move virtual machhine to second physical server with hypervisor where windows server 2016 is already running. You ll need to do something similar when you have a server with four processors. I wish to know if i install supervisor and virtualize those servers i ll have rights to move virtual machines between them freely. Physical or minimally virtualized environments.

So to license the server to run two virtual machines you will need to buy at least 32 core licenses 8 x 4 32. Automatic virtual machine activation avma acts as a proof of purchase mechanism helping to ensure that windows products are used in accordance with the product use rights and microsoft software license terms. Highly virtualized datacenters and cloud environments.