Hi Guys,

I have some doubts about using Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 and how many VMs I can run onto. I was reading about it and found a idea conflicts and I would be glad if someone helps me.

So, my doubt... Windows hyper-v Server 2012 R2 is totally free? How many VMs can I deploy and run simultaneously having licensed each VMs individually.

Follow environment exemple:

One physical machine with Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 R2, and 4 VMs each one with Essentials license.

It is possible with no license for the Windows hyper-V server 2012 R2?

Thanks,

You are confusing terms.

There are two products:

Windows Server 2012 R2 and Hyper-V Server 2012 R2. 

Hyper-V Server 2012 is free, Windows Server 2012 is not.

Hyper-V Server is freely downloadable and does not come with Windows or a GUI interface.  It allows you to only run Hyper-V, no other roles or features.  Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 does not require a license.

Windows Server 2012 must be purchased (and thus requires a license.) When you purchase Windows Server 2012 R2 to use as only a Hyper-V host, AND you only install the Hyper-V role, you are granted 2 server OS instances on the host machine with the Standard version of Windows Server 2012 and an unlimited number of OS instances on the host machine with the Datacenter version of Windows Server 2012. Client OSes are not covered by this.

Also, for future posts, please use the Hyper-V forum here: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverhyperv/threads

This forum is for the product Virtual Server 2005.

Hi Steve, thanks for quick replay.

Yes I know that there are these two versions, but in some posts I read on the internet some people written that even you are using Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 (Without GUI interface), you will able to run only two VM's.

I really need to know if that senario is possible:

One physical machine with Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 R2, and 4 VMs each one with Essentials license.

Thanks again.

There is no "Windows Hyper-V" Server, that is a common mistake, mixing two completely different products. 

You have 4 possible solutions.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard with Hyper-V. 

This gives you 2 server OS instances that are legally licensed to run on this host.  You can either purchase another Windows Server Standard license and assign it to the same host or purchase 2 additional Essentials licenses to be correctly licensed.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials with Hyper-V

This gives you 1 server OS instance that is legally licensed to run on the host as a VM.  You can purchase 3 additional Essentials licenses to be correctly licensed.   Windows Server 2012 Essentials comes with 1 licensed instance for a Server OS.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter with Hyper-V

Datacenter gives you an unlimited (only limited by your physical hardware) number of licensed server OS instances for this host.

Assuming you have Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 

Here you can do any of the above scenarios since you assign all the licenses to the host.  An assigned license doesn't need to be installed on the host, but it can't be used for any other installation though.  The reason to use Hyper-V server here would be to reduce the attack profile of the host Hyper-V OS.  Since you are going to be purchasing Windows licenses anyways, you could simply do a core installation of a Windows Server install instead.

Obviously, the easiest solution here is to look at pricing and purchase whatever's cheapest.

1 Std + 2 Essentials or

3 Essentials or

1 Datacenter

The "free" licensed instances are forfeit if you install any other role on the Windows Server host.

-----

There are no limitations on the number of VMs you can run.  That limit is purely physical, based on the RAM/CPU/Storage of your host. Well, technically not true, there is a hard limit of 1024 VMs per host.

The "two" limit only refers to Windows Server 2012 for licensed instances.  There are no restrictions on running 5, 10, 50 Linux VMs on any server running Hyper-V.   Similarly, there's nothing technical from running 5, 10, or 50 Windows VMs on Hyper-V, but you will be licensing limited.

It's a very common misconception.  Hyper-V places no hard limits on the number of VMs you can run. 

• Edited by Steve Jain Wednesday, February 11, 2015 7:01 PM added 1024 max limit

There is no "Windows Hyper-V" Server, that is a common mistake, mixing two completely different products. 

You have 4 possible solutions.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard with Hyper-V. 

This gives you 2 server OS instances that are legally licensed to run on this host.  You can either purchase another Windows Server Standard license and assign it to the same host or purchase 2 additional Essentials licenses to be correctly licensed.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials with Hyper-V

This gives you 1 server OS instance that is legally licensed to run on the host as a VM.  You can purchase 3 additional Essentials licenses to be correctly licensed.   Windows Server 2012 Essentials comes with 1 licensed instance for a Server OS.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter with Hyper-V

Datacenter gives you an unlimited (only limited by your physical hardware) number of licensed server OS instances for this host.

Assuming you have Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 

Here you can do any of the above scenarios since you assign all the licenses to the host.  An assigned license doesn't need to be installed on the host, but it can't be used for any other installation though.  The reason to use Hyper-V server here would be to reduce the attack profile of the host Hyper-V OS.  Since you are going to be purchasing Windows licenses anyways, you could simply do a core installation of a Windows Server install instead.

Obviously, the easiest solution here is to look at pricing and purchase whatever's cheapest.

1 Std + 2 Essentials or

3 Essentials or

1 Datacenter

The "free" licensed instances are forfeit if you install any other role on the Windows Server host.

-----

There are no limitations on the number of VMs you can run.  That limit is purely physical, based on the RAM/CPU/Storage of your host. Well, technically not true, there is a hard limit of 1024 VMs per host.

The "two" limit only refers to Windows Server 2012 for licensed instances.  There are no restrictions on running 5, 10, 50 Linux VMs on any server running Hyper-V.   Similarly, there's nothing technical from running 5, 10, or 50 Windows VMs on Hyper-V, but you will be licensing limited.

It's a very common misconception.  Hyper-V places no hard limits on the number of VMs you can run. 

• Edited by Steve Jain Wednesday, February 11, 2015 7:01 PM added 1024 max limit

There is no "Windows Hyper-V" Server, that is a common mistake, mixing two completely different products. 

You have 4 possible solutions.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard with Hyper-V. 

This gives you 2 server OS instances that are legally licensed to run on this host.  You can either purchase another Windows Server Standard license and assign it to the same host or purchase 2 additional Essentials licenses to be correctly licensed.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials with Hyper-V

This gives you 1 server OS instance that is legally licensed to run on the host as a VM.  You can purchase 3 additional Essentials licenses to be correctly licensed.   Windows Server 2012 Essentials comes with 1 licensed instance for a Server OS.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter with Hyper-V

Datacenter gives you an unlimited (only limited by your physical hardware) number of licensed server OS instances for this host.

Assuming you have Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 

Here you can do any of the above scenarios since you assign all the licenses to the host.  An assigned license doesn't need to be installed on the host, but it can't be used for any other installation though.  The reason to use Hyper-V server here would be to reduce the attack profile of the host Hyper-V OS.  Since you are going to be purchasing Windows licenses anyways, you could simply do a core installation of a Windows Server install instead.

Obviously, the easiest solution here is to look at pricing and purchase whatever's cheapest.

1 Std + 2 Essentials or

3 Essentials or

1 Datacenter

The "free" licensed instances are forfeit if you install any other role on the Windows Server host.

-----

There are no limitations on the number of VMs you can run.  That limit is purely physical, based on the RAM/CPU/Storage of your host. Well, technically not true, there is a hard limit of 1024 VMs per host.

The "two" limit only refers to Windows Server 2012 for licensed instances.  There are no restrictions on running 5, 10, 50 Linux VMs on any server running Hyper-V.   Similarly, there's nothing technical from running 5, 10, or 50 Windows VMs on Hyper-V, but you will be licensing limited.

It's a very common misconception.  Hyper-V places no hard limits on the number of VMs you can run. 

• Edited by Steve Jain Wednesday, February 11, 2015 7:01 PM added 1024 max limit

There is no "Windows Hyper-V" Server, that is a common mistake, mixing two completely different products. 

You have 4 possible solutions.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard with Hyper-V. 

This gives you 2 server OS instances that are legally licensed to run on this host.  You can either purchase another Windows Server Standard license and assign it to the same host or purchase 2 additional Essentials licenses to be correctly licensed.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials with Hyper-V

This gives you 1 server OS instance that is legally licensed to run on the host as a VM.  You can purchase 3 additional Essentials licenses to be correctly licensed.   Windows Server 2012 Essentials comes with 1 licensed instance for a Server OS.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter with Hyper-V

Datacenter gives you an unlimited (only limited by your physical hardware) number of licensed server OS instances for this host.

Assuming you have Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 

Here you can do any of the above scenarios since you assign all the licenses to the host.  An assigned license doesn't need to be installed on the host, but it can't be used for any other installation though.  The reason to use Hyper-V server here would be to reduce the attack profile of the host Hyper-V OS.  Since you are going to be purchasing Windows licenses anyways, you could simply do a core installation of a Windows Server install instead.

Obviously, the easiest solution here is to look at pricing and purchase whatever's cheapest.

1 Std + 2 Essentials or

3 Essentials or

1 Datacenter

The "free" licensed instances are forfeit if you install any other role on the Windows Server host.

-----

There are no limitations on the number of VMs you can run.  That limit is purely physical, based on the RAM/CPU/Storage of your host. Well, technically not true, there is a hard limit of 1024 VMs per host.

The "two" limit only refers to Windows Server 2012 for licensed instances.  There are no restrictions on running 5, 10, 50 Linux VMs on any server running Hyper-V.   Similarly, there's nothing technical from running 5, 10, or 50 Windows VMs on Hyper-V, but you will be licensing limited.

It's a very common misconception.  Hyper-V places no hard limits on the number of VMs you can run. 

• Edited by Steve Jain Wednesday, February 11, 2015 7:01 PM added 1024 max limit

There is no "Windows Hyper-V" Server, that is a common mistake, mixing two completely different products. 

You have 4 possible solutions.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard with Hyper-V. 

This gives you 2 server OS instances that are legally licensed to run on this host.  You can either purchase another Windows Server Standard license and assign it to the same host or purchase 2 additional Essentials licenses to be correctly licensed.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials with Hyper-V

This gives you 1 server OS instance that is legally licensed to run on the host as a VM.  You can purchase 3 additional Essentials licenses to be correctly licensed.   Windows Server 2012 Essentials comes with 1 licensed instance for a Server OS.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter with Hyper-V

Datacenter gives you an unlimited (only limited by your physical hardware) number of licensed server OS instances for this host.

Assuming you have Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 

Here you can do any of the above scenarios since you assign all the licenses to the host.  An assigned license doesn't need to be installed on the host, but it can't be used for any other installation though.  The reason to use Hyper-V server here would be to reduce the attack profile of the host Hyper-V OS.  Since you are going to be purchasing Windows licenses anyways, you could simply do a core installation of a Windows Server install instead.

Obviously, the easiest solution here is to look at pricing and purchase whatever's cheapest.

1 Std + 2 Essentials or

3 Essentials or

1 Datacenter

The "free" licensed instances are forfeit if you install any other role on the Windows Server host.

-----

There are no limitations on the number of VMs you can run.  That limit is purely physical, based on the RAM/CPU/Storage of your host. Well, technically not true, there is a hard limit of 1024 VMs per host.

The "two" limit only refers to Windows Server 2012 for licensed instances.  There are no restrictions on running 5, 10, 50 Linux VMs on any server running Hyper-V.   Similarly, there's nothing technical from running 5, 10, or 50 Windows VMs on Hyper-V, but you will be licensing limited.

It's a very common misconception.  Hyper-V places no hard limits on the number of VMs you can run. 

• Edited by smjain Wednesday, February 11, 2015 7:01 PM added 1024 max limit

There is no "Windows Hyper-V" Server, that is a common mistake, mixing two completely different products. 

You have 4 possible solutions.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard with Hyper-V. 

This gives you 2 server OS instances that are legally licensed to run on this host.  You can either purchase another Windows Server Standard license and assign it to the same host or purchase 2 additional Essentials licenses to be correctly licensed.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials with Hyper-V

This gives you 1 server OS instance that is legally licensed to run on the host as a VM.  You can purchase 3 additional Essentials licenses to be correctly licensed.   Windows Server 2012 Essentials comes with 1 licensed instance for a Server OS.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter with Hyper-V

Datacenter gives you an unlimited (only limited by your physical hardware) number of licensed server OS instances for this host.

Assuming you have Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 

Here you can do any of the above scenarios since you assign all the licenses to the host.  An assigned license doesn't need to be installed on the host, but it can't be used for any other installation though.  The reason to use Hyper-V server here would be to reduce the attack profile of the host Hyper-V OS.  Since you are going to be purchasing Windows licenses anyways, you could simply do a core installation of a Windows Server install instead.

Obviously, the easiest solution here is to look at pricing and purchase whatever's cheapest.

1 Std + 2 Essentials or

3 Essentials or

1 Datacenter

The "free" licensed instances are forfeit if you install any other role on the Windows Server host.

-----

There are no limitations on the number of VMs you can run.  That limit is purely physical, based on the RAM/CPU/Storage of your host. Well, technically not true, there is a hard limit of 1024 VMs per host.

The "two" limit only refers to Windows Server 2012 for licensed instances.  There are no restrictions on running 5, 10, 50 Linux VMs on any server running Hyper-V.   Similarly, there's nothing technical from running 5, 10, or 50 Windows VMs on Hyper-V, but you will be licensing limited.

It's a very common misconception.  Hyper-V places no hard limits on the number of VMs you can run. 

• Edited by smjain Wednesday, February 11, 2015 7:01 PM added 1024 max limit

There is no "Windows Hyper-V" Server, that is a common mistake, mixing two completely different products. 

You have 4 possible solutions.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard with Hyper-V. 

This gives you 2 server OS instances that are legally licensed to run on this host.  You can either purchase another Windows Server Standard license and assign it to the same host or purchase 2 additional Essentials licenses to be correctly licensed.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials with Hyper-V

This gives you 1 server OS instance that is legally licensed to run on the host as a VM.  You can purchase 3 additional Essentials licenses to be correctly licensed.   Windows Server 2012 Essentials comes with 1 licensed instance for a Server OS.

Assuming you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter with Hyper-V

Datacenter gives you an unlimited (only limited by your physical hardware) number of licensed server OS instances for this host.

Assuming you have Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 

Here you can do any of the above scenarios since you assign all the licenses to the host.  An assigned license doesn't need to be installed on the host, but it can't be used for any other installation though.  The reason to use Hyper-V server here would be to reduce the attack profile of the host Hyper-V OS.  Since you are going to be purchasing Windows licenses anyways, you could simply do a core installation of a Windows Server install instead.

Obviously, the easiest solution here is to look at pricing and purchase whatever's cheapest.

1 Std + 2 Essentials or

3 Essentials or

1 Datacenter

The "free" licensed instances are forfeit if you install any other role on the Windows Server host.

-----

There are no limitations on the number of VMs you can run.  That limit is purely physical, based on the RAM/CPU/Storage of your host. Well, technically not true, there is a hard limit of 1024 VMs per host.

The "two" limit only refers to Windows Server 2012 for licensed instances.  There are no restrictions on running 5, 10, 50 Linux VMs on any server running Hyper-V.   Similarly, there's nothing technical from running 5, 10, or 50 Windows VMs on Hyper-V, but you will be licensing limited.

It's a very common misconception.  Hyper-V places no hard limits on the number of VMs you can run. 

• Edited by Steve Jain Wednesday, February 11, 2015 7:01 PM added 1024 max limit