I'm building a piece of software will need to sit on a server OS (so that it can authenticate via Active Directory if suitable). At this moment, I do not know how many people will access the software concurrently. The software will run as a Windows Service, and will accept incoming socket connections. Other features are not that important such as file server or terminal services (although at least 1 RDP session must be supported for admin). The server would most likely be internal facing only. I hope I've included enough information to make an educated guess! Will I be able to use Windows 2008 Server Web Edition for this? Thanks Dave

Generally the "Web" Edition is a limited version of Windows Server that can be used for web services. Is this application going to run as a web service? Also, keep in mind that Web Edition is a special purpose, limited edition. It may be all that you need, but I would recommend that you take a look at this link so you can learn more about each version. Each version has its own associated cost, so you should go with the version that meets not only the minimum requiremnets, but allows for sufficient growth. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server/2008-r2-editions.aspx Visit anITKB.com, an IT Knowledge Base.

Hello, More about such edition: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server/2008-r2-web.aspx If your need can not be achieved using such addition then consider using the Standard one: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server/2008-r2-standard.aspx This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights. Microsoft Student Partner 2010 / 2011 Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Security Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer: Security Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows 7, Configuring Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Enterprise Administrator Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Server Administrator

Thanks for your replies! I've looked over the product pages, but they don't seem to indicate what is 'acceptable' or rather unacceptable. The application will run as a standard windows service, but will communicate with the clients via a standard windows socket. It will most likely not use IIS (or SQL Server) at all. My understanding of the 'Standard' edition, is that each connection to the box is counted as 1 CAL. Does that still count if it's done using a windows socket? (with custom XML flying each way...). Does this make the answer any easier? Windows Server licensing is so complex! :(

Hi Dave, Thanks for posting here. By using the Process Monitor we can monitor and filter the incoming connections for a specific process: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645 Thanks. Tiger Li Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.