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Win server standard 2025 licnese estimation

chirag b 0 Reputation points
2026-01-23T06:33:34.54+00:00

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I have 2 servers connected with shared storage (SAN) for High availability configuration and require to setup 9 VMs. VMs can run on any server.

OS required: Win server OS standard 2025

Server1 : 2processor with 32 core each

Server2 : 2processor with 32 core each

Can anyone guide how to calculate licenses for Win server OS standard 2025 (16core)?

Windows for business | Windows Server | Storage high availability | Virtualization and Hyper-V
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  1. Fitsum Beshah 0 Reputation points
    2026-01-23T07:03:48.5466667+00:00

    You have two servers as you mentioned with 32 cores each, windows server 2025 requires 16 cores per packs on standard bases.

    Physical Cores: 2 Servers × 64 cores = 128 cores to be licensed.

    Standard Stacking: Since you have 9 VMs, you must license the physical cores 5 times per host (which gives you rights for up to 10 VMs).

    128 cores × 5 = 640 core licenses.

    640 ÷ 16 = 40 Packs of Standard.

    Datacenter: You only license the physical cores once.

    128 cores ÷ 16 = 8 Packs of Datacenter.

    To verify if the packs cover the 9 VMs you have there according to Microsoft's licensing rules and link here Windows server OS standard 2025 40 packs total should be right.

    Buying 8 Packs of Datacenter is the cheapest way to do this. Buying 40 Packs of Standard is a waste of money

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