Windows Server 2012 - wikipedia Windows Server 2012 Windows Server 2012 A version of the Windows NT operating system Windows Server 2012 Start screen Developer Microsoft Source model Closed source / Shared source Released to manufacturing August 1, 2012 ; 5 years ago ( 2012 - 08 - 01 ) General availability September 4, 2012 ; 5 years ago ( 2012 - 09 - 04 ) Latest release R2 6.3 ( Build 9600 ) / October 17, 2013 ; 4 years ago ( 2013 - 10 - 17 ) Update method Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services, SCCM Platforms x64 Kernel type Hybrid License Commercial proprietary software Preceded by Windows Server 2008 R2 Succeeded by Windows Server 2012 R2 Windows Server 2016 Official website www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server/default.aspx Support status Start date : October 30, 2012 Mainstream support : Until October 9, 2018 Extended support : Until October 10, 2023 Windows Server 2012, codenamed `` Windows Server 8 '', is the sixth release of Windows Server. It is the server version of Windows 8 and succeeds Windows Server 2008 R2. Two pre-release versions, a developer preview and a beta version, were released during development. The software was generally available to customers starting on September 4, 2012. Unlike its predecessor, Windows Server 2012 has no support for Itanium - based computers, and has four editions. Various features were added or improved over Windows Server 2008 R2 ( with many placing an emphasis on cloud computing ), such as an updated version of Hyper - V, an IP address management role, a new version of Windows Task Manager, and ReFS, a new file system. Windows Server 2012 received generally good reviews in spite of having included the same controversial Metro - based user interface seen in Windows 8. The successor to Windows Server 2012, called Windows Server 2012 R2, was released along with Windows 8.1 in October 2013. A service pack, formally designated Windows Server 2012 R2 Update, was released in April 2014. Contents 1 History 2 Features 2.1 Installation options 2.2 User interface 2.3 Task Manager 2.4 IP address management ( IPAM ) 2.5 Active Directory 2.6 Hyper - V 2.7 ReFS 2.8 IIS 8.0 2.9 Scalability 3 System requirements 4 Editions 5 Reception 6 Windows Server 2012 R2 6.1 Changes from Windows Server 2012 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links History Windows Server 2012, codenamed `` Windows Server 8 '', is the sixth release of Windows Server family of operating systems developed concurrently with Windows 8. It was not until April 17, 2012 that the company announced that the final product name would be `` Windows Server 2012 ''. Microsoft introduced Windows Server 2012 and its developer preview in the BUILD 2011 conference on September 9, 2011. However, unlike Windows 8, the developer preview of Windows Server 2012 was only made available to MSDN subscribers. It included a graphical user interface ( GUI ) based on Metro design language and a new Server Manager, a graphical application used for server management. On February 16, 2012, Microsoft released an update for developer preview build that extended its expiry date from April 8, 2012 to January 15, 2013. Before Windows Server 2012 was finalized, two test builds were made public. A public beta version of Windows Server 2012 was released along with the Windows 8 Consumer Preview on February 29, 2012. The release candidate of Windows Server 2012 was released on May 31, 2012, along with the Windows 8 Release Preview. The product was released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012 and became generally available on September 4, 2012. However, not all editions of Windows Server 2012 were released at the same time. Windows Server 2012 Essentials was released to manufacturing on October 9, 2012 and was made generally available on November 1, 2012. As of September 23, 2012, all students subscribed to DreamSpark program can download Windows Server 2012 Standard or Datacenter free of charge. Features See also : Features new to Windows 8 Installation options Unlike its predecessor, Windows Server 2012 can switch between `` Server Core '' and `` Server with a GUI '' installation options without a full reinstallation. Server Core -- an option with a command - line interface only -- is now the recommended configuration. There is also a third installation option that allows some GUI elements such as MMC and Server Manager to run, but without the normal desktop, shell or default programs like File Explorer. User interface Server Manager has been redesigned with an emphasis on easing management of multiple servers. The operating system, like Windows 8, uses the Metro - based user interface unless installed in Server Core mode. Windows Store is available in this version of Windows but is not installed by default. Windows PowerShell in this version has over 2300 commandlets, compared to around 200 in Windows Server 2008 R2. Task Manager Main article : Windows Task Manager Windows Server 2012 includes a new version of Windows Task Manager together with the old version. In the new version the tabs are hidden by default, showing applications only. In the new Processes tab, the processes are displayed in varying shades of yellow, with darker shades representing heavier resource use. It lists application names and status, as well as CPU, memory, hard disk and network utilization. The process information found in the older versions are now moved to the new Details tab. The Performance tab shows `` CPU '', `` Memory '', `` Disk '', `` Wi - Fi '' and `` Ethernet '' graphs. The CPU tab no longer displays individual graphs for every logical processor on the system by default, although that remains an option. Additionally, it can display data for each non-uniform memory access ( NUMA ) node. When displaying data for each logical processor for machines with more than 64 logical processors, the CPU tab now displays simple utilization percentages on heat - mapping tiles. The color used for these heat maps is blue, with darker shades again indicating heavier utilization. Hovering the cursor over any logical processor 's data now shows the NUMA node of that processor and its ID, if applicable. Additionally, a new Startup tab has been added that lists startup applications, however this tab does not exist in Windows Server 2012. The new task manager recognizes when a Windows Store app has the `` Suspended '' status. IP address management ( IPAM ) Windows Server 2012 has an IP address management role for discovering, monitoring, auditing, and managing the IP address space used on a corporate network. The IPAM is used for the management and monitoring of Domain Name System ( DNS ) and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol ( DHCP ) servers. Both IPv4 and IPv6 are fully supported. Active Directory Windows Server 2012 has a number of changes to Active Directory from the version shipped with Windows Server 2008 R2. The Active Directory Domain Services installation wizard has been replaced by a new section in Server Manager, and a GUI has been added to the Active Directory Recycle Bin. Multiple password policies can be set in the same domain. Active Directory in Windows Server 2012 is now aware of any changes resulting from virtualization, and virtualized domain controllers can be safely cloned. Upgrades of the domain functional level to Windows Server 2012 are simplified ; it can be performed entirely in Server Manager. Active Directory Federation Services is no longer required to be downloaded when installed as a role, and claims which can be used by the Active Directory Federation Services have been introduced into the Kerberos token. Windows Powershell commands used by Active Directory Administrative Center can be viewed in a `` Powershell History Viewer ''. Hyper - V Windows Server 2012, along with Windows 8, includes a new version of Hyper - V, as presented at the Microsoft BUILD event. Many new features have been added to Hyper - V, including network virtualization, multi-tenancy, storage resource pools, cross-premises connectivity, and cloud backup. Additionally, many of the former restrictions on resource consumption have been greatly lifted. Each virtual machine in this version of Hyper - V can access up to 64 virtual processors, up to 1 terabyte of memory, and up to 64 terabytes of virtual disk space per virtual hard disk ( using a new. vhdx format ). Up to 1024 virtual machines can be active per host, and up to 8000 can be active per failover cluster. SLAT is a required processor feature for Hyper - V on Windows 8, while for Windows Server 2012 it is only required for the supplementary RemoteFX role. ReFS Main article : ReFS Resilient File System ( ReFS ), codenamed `` Protogon '', is a new file system in Windows Server 2012 initially intended for file servers that improves on NTFS in some respects. Major new features of ReFS include : Improved reliability for on - disk structures ReFS uses B+ trees for all on - disk structures including metadata and file data. Metadata and file data are organized into tables similar to a relational database. The file size, number of files in a folder, total volume size and number of folders in a volume are limited by 64 - bit numbers ; as a result ReFS supports a maximum file size of 16 exabytes, a maximum of 18.4 × 10 folders and a maximum volume size of 1 yottabyte ( with 64 KB clusters ) which allows large scalability with no practical limits on file and folder size ( hardware restrictions still apply ). Free space is counted by a hierarchical allocator which includes three separate tables for large, medium, and small chunks. File names and file paths are each limited to a 32 KB Unicode text string. Built - in resilience ReFS employs an allocation - on - write update strategy for metadata, which allocates new chunks for every update transaction and uses large IO batches. All ReFS metadata has built - in 64 - bit checksums which are stored independently. The file data can have an optional checksum in a separate `` integrity stream '', in which case the file update strategy also implements allocation - on - write ; this is controlled by a new `` integrity '' attribute applicable to both files and directories. If nevertheless file data or metadata becomes corrupt, the file can be deleted without taking the whole volume offline. As a result of built - in resiliency, administrators do not need to periodically run error - checking tools such as CHKDSK when using ReFS. Compatibility with existing APIs and technologies ReFS does not require new system APIs and most file system filters continue to work with ReFS volumes. ReFS supports many existing Windows and NTFS features such as BitLocker encryption, Access Control Lists, USN Journal, change notifications, symbolic links, junction points, mount points, reparse points, volume snapshots, file IDs, and oplock. ReFS seamlessly integrates with Storage Spaces, a storage virtualization layer that allows data mirroring and striping, as well as sharing storage pools between machines. ReFS resiliency features enhance the mirroring feature provided by Storage Spaces and can detect whether any mirrored copies of files become corrupt using background data scrubbing process, which periodically reads all mirror copies and verifies their checksums then replaces bad copies with good ones. Some NTFS features are not supported in ReFS, including object IDs, short names, file compression, file level encryption ( EFS ), user data transactions, hard links, extended attributes, and disk quotas. Sparse files are supported. Support for named streams is not implemented in Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, though it was later added in Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2. ReFS does not itself offer data deduplication. Dynamic disks with mirrored or striped volumes are replaced with mirrored or striped storage pools provided by Storage Spaces. In Windows Server 2012, automated error - correction with integrity streams is only supported on mirrored spaces ; automatic recovery on parity spaces was added in Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2. Booting from ReFS is not supported either. IIS 8.0 Windows Server 2012 includes version 8.0 of Internet Information Services ( IIS ). The new version contains new features such as SNI, CPU usage caps for particular websites, centralized management of SSL certificates, WebSocket support and improved support for NUMA, but few other substantial changes were made. Scalability Windows Server 2012 supports the following maximum hardware specifications. Windows Server 2012 improves over its predecessor Windows Server 2008 R2 : Specification Windows Server 2012 Windows Server 2008 R2 Physical processors 64 64 Logical processors when Hyper - V is disabled 640 256 Logical processors when Hyper - V is enabled 320 64 Memory 4 TB 2 TB Failover cluster nodes ( in any single cluster ) 64 16 System requirements Minimum system requirements for Windows Server 2012 Processor 1.4 GHz, x64 Memory 512 MB Free disk space 32 GB ( more if there is at least 16 GB of RAM ) Windows Server 2012 runs only on x64 processors. Unlike its predecessor, Windows Server 2012 does not support Itanium. Upgrades from Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are supported, although upgrades from prior releases are not. Editions Windows Server 2012 has four editions : Foundation, Essentials, Standard and Datacenter. Specifications Foundation Essentials Standard Datacenter Distribution OEM only Retail, volume licensing, OEM Retail, volume licensing, OEM Volume licensing and OEM Licensing model Per server Per server Per CPU pair + CAL Per CPU pair + CAL Processor chip limit 64 64 Memory limit 32 GB 64 GB 4 TB 4 TB User limit 15 25 Unlimited Unlimited File sharing limits 1 standalone DFS root 1 standalone DFS root Unlimited Unlimited Network Policy and Access Services limits 50 RRAS connections and 10 IAS connections 250 RRAS connections, 50 IAS connections, and 2 IAS Server Groups Unlimited Unlimited Remote Desktop Services limits 50 Remote Desktop Services connections Gateway only Unlimited Unlimited Virtualization rights N / A Either in 1 VM or 1 physical server, but not both at once 2 VMs Unlimited Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services Yes Yes Yes Yes Active Directory Federation Services Yes Yes Yes Yes Active Directory Rights Management Services Yes Yes Yes Yes Application server role Yes Partial Yes Yes DHCP role Yes Yes Yes Yes DNS server role Yes Yes Yes Yes Fax server role Yes Yes Yes Yes Print and document services Yes Yes Yes Yes Server Manager Yes Yes Yes Yes UDDI services Yes Yes Yes Yes Web services ( Internet Information Services ) Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows Deployment Services Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows Powershell Yes Yes Yes Yes Active Directory Domain Services Must be root of forest and domain Yes Yes Yes Active Directory Certificate Services Certificate Authorities only Certificate Authorities only Yes Yes Hyper - V No No Yes Yes Server Core mode No No Yes Yes Windows Server Update Services No No Yes Yes Reception Reviews of Windows Server 2012 have been generally positive. Simon Bisson of ZDNet described it as `` ready for the datacenter, today, '' while Tim Anderson of The Register said that `` The move towards greater modularity, stronger automation and improved virtualisation makes perfect sense in a world of public and private clouds '' but remarked that `` That said, the capability of Windows to deliver obscure and time - consuming errors is unchanged '' and concluded that `` Nevertheless, this is a strong upgrade overall. '' InfoWorld noted that Server 2012 's use of Windows 8 's panned `` Metro '' user interface was countered by Microsoft 's increasing emphasis on the Server Core mode, which had been `` fleshed out with new depth and ease - of - use features '' and increased use of the `` practically mandatory '' PowerShell. However, Michael Otey of Windows IT Pro expressed dislike with the new Metro interface and the lack of ability to use the older desktop interface alone, saying that most users of Windows Server manage their servers using the graphical user interface rather than PowerShell. The Australian construction company Kennards found the OS stable. Paul Ferrill wrote that `` Windows Server 2012 Essentials provides all the pieces necessary to provide centralized file storage, client backups, and remote access, '' but Tim Anderson contended that `` Many businesses that are using SBS2011 and earlier will want to stick with what they have '', citing the absence of Exchange, the lack of ability to synchronize with Active Directory Federation Services and the 25 - user limit, while Paul Thurott wrote `` you should choose Foundation only if you have at least some in - company IT staff and / or are comfortable outsourcing management to a Microsoft partner or solution provider '' and `` Essentials is, in my mind, ideal for any modern startup of just a few people. '' Windows Server 2012 R2 Windows Server 2012 R2 was released on October 18, 2013. It was unveiled on June 3, 2013 at TechEd North America. According to Windows Server 2012 R2 datasheet published on May 31, 2013, there are four editions of this operating system : Foundation, Essentials, Standard and Datacenter. As with Windows Server 2012, the Datacenter and Standard editions are feature - identical, varying only based on licensing ( particularly licensing of virtual instances ). The Essentials edition has the same features as the Datacenter and Standard products, with some restrictions. A further update, formally designated Windows Server 2012 R2 Update, was released in April 2014, a cumulative set of security updates, critical updates and updates. Windows Server 2012 R2 was succeeded by Windows Server 2016. Changes from Windows Server 2012 Microsoft has confirmed the following changes introduced by Windows Server 2012 R2 : Automated Tiering : Storage Spaces stores most frequently accessed files on fastest physical media Deduplication for VHD : Reduces the storage space for VHD files with largely similar contents by storing the similar contents only once Windows PowerShell v4, which now includes a Desired State Configuration ( DSC ) feature Integrated Office 365 support ( Essentials edition ) User interface changes from Windows 8.1, including visible Start button. UEFI - based virtual machines Upgrades from driver emulators to synthetic hardware drivers to minimize legacy support Faster VM deployment ( approximately half the time ) Internet Information Services 8.5 : Support for logging to Event Tracing for Windows and the ability to log any request / response headers. To improve scalability, if IIS is configured with 100 or more web sites, by default it will not automatically start any of them. Alongside this, a new `` Idle Worker Process Page - Out '' configuration option has been added to application pools to instruct Windows to page - out the process if it has been idle for the idle time - out period ( by default, 20 minutes ). Server Message Block : Performance and event logging quality improvements, support for Hyper - V Live Migration over SMB, bandwidth prioritization management, and the ability to remove SMB 1.0 support Windows Deployment Services : Support for managing WDS via PowerShell. Windows Defender is available in a Server Core installation, and is installed and enabled by default. IP Address Management ( IPAM ) : Extended to support role - based access control, allowing for fine - grained control over which users can view or change configurations for DHCP reservations, scopes, IP address blocks, DNS resource records, etc. Additionally, IPAM can integrate with System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 R2 to have coordinated IP policy across both physical and virtual environments. The IPAM database can be stored in a SQL Server instance instead of Windows Internal Database. Group Policy has a new `` Policy Cache '' setting which allows domain - joined machines to store a copy of the group policy settings on the client machine and, depending on the speed of access to the domain controller, use those at startup time instead of waiting for the policy settings to download. This can improve startup times on machines that are disconnected from the company network. New Group Policy settings have been added to cover new features in Windows 8.1 and Internet Explorer 11, such as enabling / disabling SPDY / 3 support, configuring start screen layouts, and detecting phone numbers in web pages. TLS support is extended to support RFC 5077, `` Transport Layer Security ( TLS ) Session Resumption without Server - Side State '', which improves performance of long - running TLS - secured connections that need to reconnect due to session expiration. Hyper - V role and Hyper - V management console are added to the Essentials edition. Windows Server Update Services was made available for Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials edition. ReFS gained support for alternate data streams and automatic error - correction on parity spaces. See also Microsoft portal Software portal Microsoft Servers Comparison of Microsoft Windows versions History of Microsoft Windows Comparison of operating systems List of operating systems Notes Jump up ^ Applies to Windows Server 2008 R2 and 2012 Datacenter and Windows Server 2012 Standard only. Other editions support less. Jump up ^ Each virtualized partition, including the host itself, can use up to 64 processors. ^ Jump up to : Each license of Windows Server 2012 Standard or Datacenter allows up to two processor chips. Each license of Windows Server 2012 Standard allows up to two virtual instances of Windows Server 2012 Standard on that physical server. If more virtual instances of Windows Server 2012 Standard are needed, each additional license of Windows Server 2012 allows up to two more virtual instances of Windows Server 2012 Standard, even though the physical server itself may have sufficient licenses for its processor chip count. Because Windows Server 2012 Datacenter has no limit on the number of virtual instances per licensed server, only enough licenses for the physical server are needed for any number of virtual instances of Windows Server 2012 Datacenter. If the number of processor chips or virtual instances is an odd number, the number of licenses required is the same as the next even number. For example, a single - processor - chip server would still require 1 license, the same as if the server were two - processor - chip and a five - processor - chip server would require 3 licenses, the same as if the server were six - processor - chip, and if 15 virtual instances of Windows Server 2012 Standard are needed on one server, 8 licenses of Windows Server 2012, which can cover up to 16 virtual instances, are needed ( assuming, in this example, that the processor chip count does not exceed 16 ). ^ Jump up to : For the Standard and Datacenter editions, each user or device accessing the software must have a client access license ( CAL ) assigned ( either per - user or per - device ), so there may be no more simultaneous users than the number of client - access licenses, except up to 2 simultaneous users purely to administer the server software, or for running virtualization or web workloads. Remote Desktop Services requires an additional CAL separate from the aforementioned CAL. ^ Jump up to : If the number of physical processors in a particular server is under 64, the limit is determined by the quantity of licenses assigned to that server. In that case, the number of physical processors can not exceed twice the number of licenses assigned to the server. References Jump up ^ http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsserver/archive/2012/08/01/windows-server-2012-released-to-manufacturing.aspx Jump up ^ http://blogs.technet.com/b/in_the_cloud/archive/2013/08/27/today-is-the-rtm-for-windows-server-2012-r2.aspx Jump up ^ `` Microsoft Product Lifecycle ''. Microsoft Support. Microsoft. January 2012. Retrieved October 10, 2012. ^ Jump up to : Foley, Mary Jo ( April 17, 2012 ). `` Windows Server `` 8 '' officially dubbed Windows Server 2012 ``. ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 17, 2012. ^ Jump up to : Snover, Jeffrey ( August 1, 2012 ). `` Windows Server 2012 released to manufacturing ! ''. Windows Server Blog. Microsoft. TechNet blogs. Retrieved January 29, 2013. ^ Jump up to : Foley, Mary Jo ( April 5, 2010 ). `` Microsoft pulls the plug on future Itanium support ''. ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 1, 2012. ^ Jump up to : http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2014/08/05/august-updates-for-windows-8-1-and-windows-server-2012-r2/ Jump up ^ Resseler, Mike ( August 2013 ). `` eBook - What 's new in Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview ''. Veeam Software. Retrieved September 3, 2013. ^ Jump up to : Savill, John ( February 29, 2012 ). `` Q : Where can I download and get more information on Windows Server `` 8 '' Beta and Windows 8 Consumer Preview ? ``. Windows IT Pro. Penton Media. Retrieved February 29, 2012. ^ Jump up to : Snover, Jeffrey ( April 24, 2012 ). `` Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate Timing ''. Windows Server Blog. Microsoft. TechNet blogs. Retrieved January 21, 2013. Jump up ^ Laing, Bill ( September 9, 2011 ). `` Windows Server 8 : An Introduction ''. Server & Cloud Blog. Microsoft. TechNet blogs. Retrieved January 23, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Download Windows Server 8 Developer Preview via MSDN ''. Softpedia. SoftNews SRL. September 14, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2013. ^ Jump up to : Bisson, Simon ( September 14, 2011 ). `` Windows 8 Server Developer Preview ''. ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 1, 2012. Jump up ^ Arghire, Ionut ( February 18, 2012 ). `` Windows 8 Developer Preview Expiration Date Gets Postponed ''. Softpedia. SoftNews SRL. Retrieved July 15, 2013. Jump up ^ Snover, Jeffrey. `` Windows Server 2012 Essentials released to manufacturing, available for evaluation today ! ''. Windows Server Blog !. Microsoft. TechNet blogs. Retrieved January 25, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Windows Server 2012 Essentials reaches general availability ! ''. Windows Server Blog !. Microsoft. TechNet blogs. 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Sinofsky, Steven, ed. `` The Windows 8 Task Manager ''. Building Windows 8. Microsoft. MSDN blogs. Retrieved January 31, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Using Task Manager with 64 + logical processors ''. Building Windows 8. MSDN blogs. Retrieved October 29, 2011. Jump up ^ `` How to Get the Most out of New Windows 8 Task Manager ? ''. Retrieved October 29, 2011. Jump up ^ Hu, Aaron. `` How to disable start - up items in windows server 2012 ''. TechNet Forums. Microsoft. Retrieved October 14, 2012. The Startup tab is not present on Windows Server 2012. It is only on Windows 8. Jump up ^ `` IP Address Management ( IPAM ) Overview ''. TechNet Library. Microsoft. February 29, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2013. Jump up ^ Shields, Greg ( July 3, 2012 ). `` Quick Guide : What 's New in Windows Server 2012 Active Directory ''. Redmond magazine. 1105 Redmond Media. Retrieved January 21, 2013. 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Sinofsky, Steven, ed. `` Building the next generation file system for Windows : ReFS ''. Building Windows 8. Microsoft. MSDN blogs. Retrieved January 20, 2013. Jump up ^ Meyer, David ( January 17, 2012 ). `` Microsoft takes wraps off new Windows file system ''. ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 20, 2013. Jump up ^ `` ReadDirectoryChangesW function ''. MSDN Library. Microsoft. November 8, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2013. Jump up ^ Nagar, Rajeev ( January 5, 2012 ). Sinofsky, Steven, ed. `` Virtualizing storage for scale, resiliency, and efficiency ''. Building Windows 8. Microsoft. MSDN blogs. Retrieved January 18, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Windows Server 2012 : Does ReFS replace NTFS ? When should I use it ? ''. January 2, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2013. Jump up ^ `` ReFS ( Resilient File System ) supports sparse files ''. Retrieved March 31, 2013. ^ Jump up to : `` Resilient File System Overview ''. TechNet Library. Microsoft. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2013. Jump up ^ Mackie, Kurt. `` Microsoft Touts IIS 8 Improvements ''. Redmond magazine. 1105 Redmond Media. Retrieved August 17, 2012. Jump up ^ Anderson, Tim ( September 4, 2012 ). `` Windows Server 2012 : inside Microsoft 's Enterprise Server OS ''. Computer Weekly. TechTarget. Retrieved January 21, 2013. ^ Jump up to : Seldam, Matthijs ten ( October 13, 2012 ). `` Windows Server - Sockets, Logical Processors, Symmetric Multi Threading ''. Matthijs 's blog. Microsoft. TechNet blogs. Retrieved October 14, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Logical Processor count changes after enabling Hyper - V role on Windows Server 2012 ''. March 28, 2013. Retrieved April 1, 2013. ^ Jump up to : `` Installing Windows Server 2012 ''. TechNet Library. Microsoft. System requirements. Retrieved June 10, 2012. Jump up ^ Foley, Mary Jo ( July 5, 2012 ). `` Microsoft goes public with Windows Server 2012 versions, licensing ''. ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 5, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Purchasing Windows Server 2012 ''. Microsoft. Retrieved December 8, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Windows Server 2012 Licensing and Pricing FAQ '' ( PDF ). Microsoft. Retrieved July 5, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Windows Server 2012 Licensing Data Sheet '' ( PDF ). Microsoft. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on July 22, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Introduction to Windows Server 2012 Foundation ''. TechNet. Microsoft. Retrieved 8 December 2015. Jump up ^ `` Introduction to Windows Server 2012 Foundation ''. TechNet Library. Microsoft. Retrieved November 4, 2012. ^ Jump up to : Bisson, Simon ( September 13, 2012 ). `` Windows Server 2012 : RTM review ''. ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 19, 2013. ^ Jump up to : Anderson, Tim ( September 5, 2012 ). `` Windows Server 2012 : Smarter, stronger, frustrating ''. The Register. Situation Publishing. Retrieved January 19, 2013. Jump up ^ Ferrill, Paul ( October 3, 2012 ). `` Windows Server 2012 Review : The Bottom Line ''. ServerWatch. QuinStreet. Retrieved January 19, 2013. Jump up ^ Rist, Oliver ( June 27, 2012 ). `` Review : Weighing Windows Server 2012 ''. InfoWorld. IDG. Retrieved January 19, 2013. Jump up ^ Otey, Michael ( July 25, 2012 ). `` Is Microsoft Trying to Kill Windows Server ? ''. Windows IT Pro. Penton Media. Retrieved January 19, 2013. Jump up ^ Lui, Spandas ( September 12, 2012 ). `` Kennards adopts Windows Server 2012 for virtualisation ''. ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 21, 2013. Jump up ^ Ferrill, Paul ( December 16, 2012 ). `` A Hands - on Look at Windows Server 2012 Essentials ''. ServerWatch. QuinStreet. Retrieved January 20, 2013. Jump up ^ Anderson, Tim ( December 21, 2012 ). `` Windows Server 2012 Essentials review ''. PC Pro. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved January 20, 2013. Jump up ^ Thurott, Paul ( October 2, 2012 ). `` Windows Server 2012 : Foundation vs. Essentials ''. Windows IT Pro. Penton Media. Retrieved January 20, 2013. Jump up ^ Jeff Meisner ( August 14, 2013 ). `` Save the date : Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows System Center 2012 R2 and Windows Intune update coming Oct. 18 - The Official Microsoft Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs ''. TechNet Blogs. Retrieved February 10, 2014. Jump up ^ Damien Caro ( June 10, 2013 ). `` Windows Server 2012 R2 -- First look - Damien Caro 's Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs ''. Blogs.technet.com. Retrieved June 25, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Cloud Optimize Your Business '' ( PDF ). Microsoft. Retrieved August 2, 2013. Jump up ^ Mackie, Kurt ( June 20, 2013 ). `` Microsoft Enhancing Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials for SMBs ''. Redmondmag.com. Retrieved June 25, 2013. Jump up ^ https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=42334 ^ Jump up to : Jackson, Joab ( June 5, 2013 ). `` Windows Server 2012 R2 bulks up on storage and networking ''. PC World. IDG. Retrieved September 20, 2013. Jump up ^ Sams, Brad ( June 25, 2013 ). `` Windows 8.1 Start button revealed in Windows Server 2012 R2 ''. Neowin.net. Neowin LLC. Retrieved September 20, 2013. Jump up ^ Tulloch, Mitch ( 2013 ). Introducing Windows Server 2012 R2 ( PDF ) ( Preview Release ed. ). Redmond, Washington : Microsoft Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 7356 - 8293 - 1. Retrieved September 19, 2013. Jump up ^ `` What 's New in IIS 8.5 ? ''. Microsoft. Jump up ^ `` What 's New for SMB in Windows Server 2012 R2 ''. Jump up ^ `` What 's New for Windows Deployment Services in Windows Server 2012 R2 ''. Jump up ^ `` What 's Changed in Security Technologies in Windows 8.1 ''. Jump up ^ `` What 's New in IPAM in Windows Server 2012 R2 ''. Jump up ^ `` What 's New in Group Policy in Windows Server 2012 R2 ''. Microsoft. Jump up ^ `` What 's new in Group Policy in Windows Server 2012 R2 ''. Group Policy Central. Jump up ^ Fabritius, David ( 3 September 2013 ). `` Understanding Licensing for Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials and the Windows Server Essentials Experience role ''. The Windows Server Essentials and Small Business Server Blog. Jump up ^ `` Windows Server 2012 R2 Products and Editions Comparison ''. Download Center. Microsoft. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2016. Further reading Stanek, William ( 2013 ). Windows Server 2012 Inside Out. Microsoft Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 7356 - 6631 - 3. Stanek, William ( 2014 ). Windows Server 2012 R2 Inside Out Volume 1 : Configuration, Storage, & Essentials. Microsoft Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 7356 - 8267 - 2. Stanek, William ( 2014 ). Windows Server 2012 R2 Inside Out Volume 2 : Services, Security, & Infrastructure. Microsoft Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 7356 - 8255 - 9. External links Wikiversity has learning resources about Windows Server Official website Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012 on TechNet Windows Server 2012 R2 on MSDN Windows Server 2012 on MSDN Tutorials and Lab Manual Articles of Windows Server 2012 R2 Microsoft Windows family Components History Timeline Criticism DOS - based Windows 1.0 Windows 2.0 Windows 2.1 x Windows 3.0 Windows 3.1 x Windows 9x Windows 95 ( Development ) Windows 98 Windows ME Windows NT Windows NT 3.1 Windows NT 3.5 Windows NT 3.51 Windows NT 4.0 Windows 2000 Client versions Windows XP editions x64 Media Center Fundamentals Windows Vista editions Windows 7 editions Windows 8 editions 8.1 RT Windows 10 editions version history Windows Server Server 2003 Home Server Server 2008 EBS 2008 HPC Server 2008 Server 2008 R2 Home Server 2011 Server 2012 Server 2012 R2 Server 2016 MultiPoint Server Server Essentials Specialized Windows Preinstallation Environment Windows Embedded Embedded Compact CE 5.0 Embedded CE 6.0 Embedded Compact 7 Embedded Automotive Embedded Industry Windows Mobile Pocket PC 2000 Pocket PC 2002 Mobile 2003 Mobile 5.0 Mobile 6.0 Mobile 6.1 Mobile 6.5 Windows Phone Phone 7 Phone 8 Phone 8.1 Windows 10 Mobile Cancelled Cairo Nashville Neptune Odyssey List of versions Comparison Book GND : 1030145075 BNF : cb16707047j ( data ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Windows_Server_2012&oldid=805374177 '' Categories : Windows Server X86 - 64 operating systems Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from September 2017 Good articles All accuracy disputes Articles with disputed statements from May 2015 Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Articles created via the Article Wizard Talk Contents About Wikipedia বাংলা Български Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Español فارسی Français 한국어 Հայերեն Bahasa Indonesia Italiano ქართული Magyar Nederlands 日本 語 Polski Português Română Русский Српски / srpski Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 粵語 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 14 October 2017, at 23 : 24. 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Question: how many core editions are there of windows server 2012
Answer: four