Hardware Requirements for the Target Computer

Applies To: Windows Server 2016 Essentials, Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials, Windows Server 2012 Essentials

This section provides hardware requirements for Windows Server Essentials.

Hardware requirements for Windows Server Essentials

You must install Windows Server Essentials on the target computer that meets the requirements in the following table.

Table 1: System Requirements for Windows Server Essentials

Component Minimum Recommended* Maximum
CPU socket 1.4 GHz (64-bit processor) or faster for single core

1.3 GHz (64-bit processor) or faster for multi-core
3.1 GHz (64-bit processor) or faster multi-core 2 sockets
Memory (RAM) 2 GB 16 GB 64 GB
Hard disks and available storage space 160 GB hard disk with a 60 GB system partition No limit

*Recommended hardware requirements to support Windows Server Essentials maximum user and device limits.

Additional hardware and software requirements

The following table lists additional hardware and software requirements.

Component Description
Network adapter Gigabit Ethernet adapter (10/100/1000baseT PHY/MAC)
Internet Some functionality may require Internet access (fees may apply) or a Windows LiveĀ® ID Account
Supported Client Operating Systems - Windows 7
- Windows 8
- Macintosh OS X 10.5 to 10.8.

Note: Some features require professional or higher editions.

1 GB of available hard drive space (a portion of this disk will be freed after installation)
Router A router or firewall that supports IPv4 NAT
Additional requirements DVD-ROM drive

Actual requirements will vary based on your system configuration and the applications and features you choose to install. Processor performance depends not only on the clock frequency of the processor, but also on the number of cores and the size of the processor cache. Storage space requirements for the system partition are approximate. Additional available storage space may be required if you are installing over a network.

For more information about the hardware requirements, see the Windows Server Catalog.

All server hardware should meet the requirements established for the Windows Server 2012 Logo Program for Systems. For more information, see Windows Logo Program.

See Also

Getting Started with the Windows Server Essentials ADK Creating and Customizing the Image Additional Customizations Preparing the Image for Deployment Testing the Customer Experience