We are onboarding a new application in our environment. The application itself is 32 bit. There is no failover clustering feature. Am I correct in thinking that the only difference between the Windows 2008 Server Standard and Enterprise is the support for greater memory in the Enterprise version? And, because the app is 32 bit, it can't use more than 4GB so we don't need an Enterprise version? I've tried to find on the internet, but is there a straightforward chart that lists the differences between Windows 2008 Server Standard, Enterprise, DataCenter and R2?

Niel, Best place to see the difference is the Microsoft chart what you have seen i hope the correct one. 2nd If you are not using clustering or don't want the clustering feature in future that you are good with standard edition, 3rd Standard will cost you cheaper instead of Ent. 4th You mentioned that 32 bit application then just check the compatibility if you are going to install on 64 bit OS apart from this i don't think there can any issue for the application to use more RAM, it can use more RAM if the physical availability is there. Below Cart from DEL will differentiate between Stand VS Ent. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:5kyjWeEC_voJ:www.dell.com/downloads/global/solutions/OS%2520Spec%2520STDvENT_FINAL.pdf+windows+2008+standard+vs+enterprise&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESi3XmobDQ2O0Bit24-qiBsuvd3nHvMIuc3KVRJiW0TKCk2qjbdcdEH7cOV47cwoJ20Roa-x_raWExQD1OxfPRQjvPsawYRB6pxW67Y4tWmuufQN--NAPlaOUkcahNXCu2cm5b1L&sig=AHIEtbQIlksA14xab05PeG7iBFlUBmNfXQ Thanks

Niel, Best place to see the difference is the Microsoft chart what you have seen i hope the correct one. 2nd If you are not using clustering or don't want the clustering feature in future that you are good with standard edition, 3rd Standard will cost you cheaper instead of Ent. 4th You mentioned that 32 bit application then just check the compatibility if you are going to install on 64 bit OS apart from this i don't think there can any issue for the application to use more RAM, it can use more RAM if the physical availability is there. Below Cart from DEL will differentiate between Stand VS Ent. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:5kyjWeEC_voJ:www.dell.com/downloads/global/solutions/OS%2520Spec%2520STDvENT_FINAL.pdf+windows+2008+standard+vs+enterprise&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESi3XmobDQ2O0Bit24-qiBsuvd3nHvMIuc3KVRJiW0TKCk2qjbdcdEH7cOV47cwoJ20Roa-x_raWExQD1OxfPRQjvPsawYRB6pxW67Y4tWmuufQN--NAPlaOUkcahNXCu2cm5b1L&sig=AHIEtbQIlksA14xab05PeG7iBFlUBmNfXQ Thanks

Even if 32bits, a lot of time you can distribute it on a 64bits OS without problem. Thus the memory that you have free on that 64bits system will allow more instance of the software to be openned. Check with your software vendor with what it was tested. It's your best bet. A rep will usually help you out to choose the OS and the bestpractices for your app. MCP | MCTS 70-236: Exchange Server 2007, Configuring Want to follow me ? | Blog: http://www.jabea.net | http://blogs.technet.com/b/wikininjas/

Even if 32bits, a lot of time you can distribute it on a 64bits OS without problem. Thus the memory that you have free on that 64bits system will allow more instance of the software to be openned. Check with your software vendor with what it was tested. It's your best bet. A rep will usually help you out to choose the OS and the bestpractices for your app. MCP | MCTS 70-236: Exchange Server 2007, Configuring Want to follow me ? | Blog: http://www.jabea.net | http://blogs.technet.com/b/wikininjas/

Best practice to get the application applicable for 64 bit too with the vendor.