Windows Server CAL is short for Client Access License. In terms of features, there are no differences compared to the Windows Server Standard edition. This version does not require CALs since it is a server license but it is limited to 10 cores. Windows Server Essentials is intended for smaller businesses, with up to 25 users and 50 devices. Additionally, this version supports an unlimited amount of virtual machines which, however, does not exclude the need for CALs. The Datacenter version allows the use of an unlimited number of VM, while the Standard license supports two VM.ĭifferent from the Standard edition, Windows Server 2022 Datacenter is meant to be used on highly virtualized datacenters and cloud environments. The most prominent difference between Windows Server 2022 Standard and Datacenter is the number of supported virtual machines (VM). Essentially, this version has the same range of functions and hardware requirements as the Datacenter license with a few exceptions.

It is intended for physical machines or environments with minimal virtualisation. The basic version of Windows Server is the Standard edition.

Below you can read more about the differences between the three versions of Windows Server - Standard, Datacenter, and Essentials. Windows Server 2022 was released from Microsoft in September 2021. Due to this functionality, Windows Server is mostly used in the business environment. As such, the Server runs constantly and effectively manages corporate networking as it administers recourse to the other computers. Compared to Windows desktop operating systems, Windows Server is a more powerful version. Microsoft created Windows Server as an operating system to be used exclusively on servers. Windows Server 2022 Comparison between Standard, Datacenter & Essentials

Server essentials