Selecting a suitable Windows Server 2016 edition

You can choose one of several editions of Windows Server 2016. These editions allow organizations to select a version of Windows Server 2016 that best meets their needs, rather than pay for features they do not require. When deploying a server for a specific role, system administrators can save substantially by selecting the appropriate edition. The following table describes the Windows Server 2016 editions.

Edition	Description
Windows Server 2016 Essentials edition	Windows Server 2016 Essentials edition is designed for small businesses. It corresponds to Windows Small Business Server from earlier versions of Windows Server. This edition allows up to 25 users and 50 devices. It supports two processor cores and up to 64 gigabytes (GB) of random access memory (RAM). It does not support many of the features of Windows Server 2016, including virtualization.
Windows Server 2016 Standard edition	Windows Server 2016 Standard edition is designed for physical server environments with little or no virtualization. It provides many of the roles and features available for the Windows Server 2016 operating system. This edition supports up to 64 sockets and up to 4 terabytes (TB) of RAM. It includes licenses for up to two virtual machines and supports Nano Server installation.  Note: You can run two virtual machines on one physical host, using one standard license, as long as the physical host is only used for hosting and managing the virtual machines. If the physical host is used to run other services, such as DNS, you can only run one virtual machine. For more information about Windows licensing, speak with a Microsoft licensing specialist.
Windows Server 2016 Datacenter edition	Windows Server 2016 Datacenter edition is designed for highly virtualized infrastructures, including private cloud and hybrid cloud environments. It provides all of the roles and features available for the Windows Server 2016 operating system. This edition supports up to 64 sockets, up to 640 processor cores, and up to 4 TB of RAM. It includes unlimited Windows Server-based virtual machine licenses for virtual machines that run on the same hardware. It also includes new features such as Storage Spaces Direct and Storage Replica, along with new Shielded Virtual Machines and features for software-defined datacenter scenarios.
Microsoft Hyper‑V Server 2016	Acts as a stand-alone virtualization server for virtual machines, including all the new features around virtualization in Windows Server 2016. The host operating system has no licensing cost, but virtual machines must be licensed separately. This edition supports up to 64 sockets and up to 4 TB of RAM. It supports domain joining. It does not support Windows Server 2016 roles other than limited file service features. This edition has no GUI but does have a UI that displays a menu of configuration tasks.
Windows Storage Server 2016 Workgroup edition	Acts as an entry-level unified storage appliance. This edition allows 50 users, one processor core, and 32 GB of RAM. It supports domain joining.
Windows Storage Server 2016 Standard edition	Supports up to 64 sockets but is licensed on a two-socket, incrementing basis. This edition supports up to 4 TB of RAM. It includes two virtual machine licenses. It supports domain joining. It supports some roles, including Domain Name System (DNS) and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server roles, but does not support others, including Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS), or Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS).