Virtualization of Windows server 2016 and 2019

André A. Browne 21 Reputation points
2020-12-02T14:31:11.193+00:00

My question has 2 parts.
Firstly, if I want to add an additional VM what is the smallest license I can stack on an existing server 2016 installation to have it work?
Secondly, can server 2019 stack with 2016 and if so how?

Windows Server
Windows Server
A family of Microsoft server operating systems that support enterprise-level management, data storage, applications, and communications.
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Hyper-V
Hyper-V
A Windows technology providing a hypervisor-based virtualization solution enabling customers to consolidate workloads onto a single server.
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Accepted answer
  1. Dave Patrick 426.1K Reputation points MVP
    2020-12-02T15:00:00.943+00:00

    Some general info here.

    • Each host needs to be licensed.
    • A minimum of 8 core licenses is required for each physical processor and a minimum of 16 core licenses is required for each server.
    • Core licenses are sold in packs of two.
    • Standard Edition provides rights for up to 2 Operating System Environments or Windows Servers containers with Hyper-V isolation when all physical cores in the server are licensed. For each additional 1 or 2 VMs, all the physical cores in the server must be licensed again.
    • DataCenter Edition provides rights for unlimited Operating System Environments or Windows Servers containers with Hyper-V isolation when all physical cores in the server are licensed.
    • AVMA keys can be used only when the host is DataCenter edition

    https://download.microsoft.com/download/7/C/E/7CED6910-C7B2-4196-8C55-208EE0B427E2/Windows_Server_2019_licensing_datasheet_EN_US.pdf
    http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/2/9/7290EA05-DC56-4BED-9400-138C5701F174/WS2016LicensingDatasheet.pdf

    --please don't forget to Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--

    1 person found this answer helpful.

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  1. Philippe Levesque 5,681 Reputation points MVP
    2020-12-02T20:21:58.46+00:00

    I want to know if a 2019 license can 'stack' with a 2016 license as they reference there.

    To answer you on that specific sub-question, if you run 2019 instance inside that host, you need the physical cores covered, so yes you need license.

    1) If you respect the number of VM, 2 total, the 2019's licence got downgrade option to cover a 2016's OS, but that mean you got a limit of two VM in such case.

    2) If you want 2 2016 VM, and 2 2019 VM,you need the physical core covered by the 2019 and 2016's license, yes.

    Don't forget that if it's the first 2019 licence you get, you probably need 2019 users CAL too

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  2. Dave Patrick 426.1K Reputation points MVP
    2020-12-02T19:44:54.793+00:00

    Not sure what is meant by "stack the 2019 license" but the Server 2016 license would not cover a Server 2019 virtual machine guest, nor would the Server 2019 license cover the 2016 guest unless a DataCenter host was used.

  3. Dave Patrick 426.1K Reputation points MVP
    2020-12-02T20:02:52.97+00:00

    Ok, yes this is not a problem.

    Standard Edition provides rights for up to 2 Operating System Environments or Windows Servers containers with Hyper-V isolation when all physical cores in the server are licensed. For each additional 1 or 2 VMs, all the physical cores in the server must be licensed again.