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Licensing for the cloud

Customers with Windows Server 2025 licenses may install the software on their own servers, or an Authorized Outsourcer’s server which is dedicated to them. Windows Server 2025 Standard and Datacenter Core and CAL licenses with active Software Assurance (or Windows…

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Extended Security Updates

When Windows Server products reach the end of their support lifecycle, Microsoft no longer programmatically provide regular security updates for these products. However, customers who need to continue running these versions of Windows Server can purchase Extended Security Updates (ESU)…

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Step-up licenses

Customers with Software Assurance on their Windows Server licenses are eligible to purchase Step-up licenses. There is a Step-up license available to move from Windows Server Standard to Windows Server Datacenter and you can imagine that this is a useful…

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Servicing Channels

A Servicing Channel controls how often feature updates are applied to software, and Windows Server is primarily available through the Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC), with new releases expected every two to three years. In terms of support, customers are entitled…

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Step-up licenses

Customers with Software Assurance on their Windows Server licenses are eligible to purchase Step-up licenses. There is a Step-up license available to move from Windows Server Standard to Windows Server Datacenter and you can imagine that this is a useful…

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CAL equivalent licenses

A User SL for an Online Service that includes rights to access a licensed on-premises server is known as a CAL equivalent license. Because the User SL is a subscription license it’s deemed to be equivalent to the latest version…

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Downgrade and down-edition rights

Both editions of Windows Server include downgrade rights, so purchasing Windows Server 2025 Datacenter licenses allows you to run any previous version of Datacenter edition, and the same goes for Windows Server 2025 Standard. Windows Server 2025 Datacenter also has…

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Licensing for Disaster Recovery

Customers with Software Assurance on both their Windows Server 2025 Standard and/or Datacenter Core licenses and CALs are entitled to special rights for Disaster Recovery scenarios. They can install Windows Server on a “cold” – that is, a turned off…

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Microsoft resources: System Center 2022

Here’s a list of System Center resources from Microsoft all in one place. The rating column reflects our opinion of how useful the documents or websites are: DateResourceOverviewPagesRatingN/AProduct Terms websiteThe main entry point to the (somewhat annoying) 7 different sections…

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Licensing Windows Server Containers

Organizations might choose to deploy apps in containers rather than virtual machines so let’s take a look at the licensing of Windows Server Containers, and Microsoft define two types of containers in the Product Terms. Firstly, there’s a Windows Server…

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