New System Requirements of Windows Server 2016

New System Requirements of Windows Server 2016

Windows Server 2016 is the latest release from Microsoft from the Server OS portfolio of Products. Unsurprisingly, with this version, Microsoft’s focus is on the Cloud Data Platform to offer a consistent platform for both On-premises and Cloud Data Centers. It will give you the ability to choose where & how you want to deploy, bare metal or in a VM, On-premises, Azure or within a multi-tenant service provider environment.

Also Read Learn about the New and Improve Features of Windows Server 2016 under 5 minutes.

The Server Operating System will focus on Enterprise Mobility (EMS), IoT, Business Insights, Application Platform and Datacenter transformation.

Windows Server 2016 System Requirements:

Processor requirements:

• A minimum of 1.4 GHz 64-bit EMT64 or AMD64 processor. Quad Core Recommended for production systems.
• Support for security features like NX Bit and DEP (Data Execution Prevention)
•  The processor should support CMPXCHG16b, LAHF/SAHF, and PrefetchWNeeds
• Needs to Support EPT or NPT (Second Level Address Translation)

Disk Space:

For Core installation, a minimum Disk Space of 32 GB is required. Additional 4 GB is necessary for GUI installation.

Disk Space Capacity Planning:

Microsoft Support recommends the following:

• 3 times the RAM size limited up to 32 GB. Which means 96 GB (32×3 = 96 GB)
• Additional disk space of 10-12 GB for additional roles and features installed based on server roles. For 32 GB Systems with GUI (96 + 12 = 108 GB)
• Additional 10 GB is required for Windows Updates. So, 108 GB +10 GB = 118 GB for 32 GB Systems.
• 10 GB extra space for miscellaneous files and logs (Perfmon, Server Trace, etc.) (128 GB for 32 GB Systems)
• Any Disk Space requirements for applications that are installed on the OS partition are additional. For example SQL, Exchange, SharePoint MS-CRM, etc.

Disk Controller:

• Needs to be a PCI Express Compliant Disk Controller.
• ATA/PATA/IDE/EIDE are not supported for either boot, page, or data.

RAM (Random Access memory) Requirements:

• 512 MB ECC supported Memory Modules
• 800 MB for VM Installations, post-installation, reduce RAM to 512 MB.

Optional System Requirements Features:

• Support of UEFI 2.3.1c-based system and firmware with support for secure boot
• Trusted Platform Module
• Graphics Accelerator device and monitor, capable of SVGA (1024 x 768) minimum. 1080 p monitors or higher-resolution recommended.
• Input devices such as a Keyboard and Microsoft® mouse (or other compatible pointing devices)
• Internet access to download Windows Updates where the tenant is managing the updates.

Network Requirements:

• Minimum a Gigabit Ethernet adapter with 1 Gbps throughput.
• Needs to be PCI Express Compliant hardware.
• Supports Pre-boot Execution Environment (PXE).As you may know, Wireless Devices cannot be used to boot from the network.

Some of the requirements have changed compared to its predecessor, but most of the changes are already available in hardware that is sold in the market. For example, the processor feature requirements are already present in products sold for the last couple of years.