abiola omoba technology: Supporting server roles

abiola omoba technology: Supporting server roles: Windows Server 2012 includes predefined combinations of services called roles that implement common server functions. Computers running ...

abiola omoba technology: Supporting server virtualization

abiola omoba technology: Supporting server virtualization: The Windows Server 2012 Datacenter and Standard editions both include support for Hyper-V, but they vary in the number of VMs permitted b...

abiola omoba technology: Server licensing

abiola omoba technology: Server licensing: Microsoft provides several different sales channels for Windows Server 2012 licenses, and not all of the editions are available through a...

abiola omoba technology: Installation requirements

abiola omoba technology: Installation requirements: If your computer has less than the following hardware specifications, Windows Server 2012 will not install correctly (or possibly at all)...

Installation requirements

If your computer has less than the following hardware specifications, Windows Server 2012 will not install correctly (or possibly at all):
 1.4 GHz 64-bit processor
 512 MB RAM
 32 GB available disk space
 DVD drive
 Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution monitor
 Keyboard and mouse (or other compatible pointing device)
 Internet access
32 GB of available disk space should be considered an absolute minimum. The system partition will need extra space if you install the system over a network or if your computer has more than 16 GB of RAM installed. The additional disk space is required for paging, hibernation, and dump files. In practice, you are unlikely to come across a computer with 32 GB of RAM and only 32 GB of disk space. If you do, free more disk space or invest in additional storage hardware.

Server licensing

Microsoft provides several different sales channels for Windows Server 2012 licenses, and not all of the editions are available through all of the channels. Licensing Windows Server 2012 includes purchasing licenses for both servers and clients, and there are many options for each one.
If you are already involved in a licensing agreement with Microsoft, you should be aware of the server editions that are available to you through that agreement. If you are not, you should investigate the licensing options available to you before you select a server edition.

Supporting server virtualization

The Windows Server 2012 Datacenter and Standard editions both include support for Hyper-V, but they vary in the number of VMs permitted by their licenses. Each running instance of the Windows Server 2012 operating system is classified as being in a physical operating system environment (POSE) or a virtual operating system environment (VOSE). When you purchase a Windows Server 2012 license, you can perform a POSE installation of the operating system, as always. After installing the Hyper-V role, you can then create VMs and perform VOSE installations on them...