Windows Server 2025 Standard
- SKU
- MS-WS2025-STD-2C
- Licence
- Volume
- Term
- Perpetual
Price on enquiryQuoted against your configuration
Windows Server
Windows Server licensing, counted correctly
Core counting and CAL requirements are where most Windows Server purchases go wrong — in both directions. We size it from your actual host configuration.
Windows Server is licensed by physical core, with a minimum of sixteen cores per server and eight per processor, sold in two-core packs. Those minimums apply regardless of the actual core count, which is why a small server is rarely as cheap as buyers expect.
Client Access Licences are a separate purchase and are the part organisations most frequently get wrong. Under-counting them is a compliance exposure that only becomes visible during an audit.
Standard or Datacenter
Both editions share the core licensing model. The difference is virtualisation rights: Standard covers the host plus two operating system environments, while Datacenter permits unlimited environments.
Beyond two virtual machines on a Standard host, additional full core licences must be stacked. Past roughly four to six guests, Datacenter costs less — and the gap widens quickly with density.
Standard
Two operating system environments per licensed host. Suits physical servers and lightly virtualised hosts running a handful of guests.
Datacenter
Unlimited operating system environments, plus Storage Spaces Direct and Software Defined Networking. Suits consolidated virtualisation platforms.
Client Access Licences
Every user or device that accesses the server needs a CAL, and the CAL version must match or exceed the server version. A Server 2025 host cannot legally be accessed with Server 2019 CALs.
- User CALs suit organisations where staff use several devices each
- Device CALs suit shift environments where several people share one machine
- Remote Desktop Services access requires an additional RDS CAL on top of the base CAL
- CALs are perpetual under volume licensing and do not need renewing annually
Windows Server licensing
Windows Server 2025 Datacenter
- SKU
- MS-WS2025-DC-2C
- Licence
- Volume
- Term
- Perpetual
Price on enquiryQuoted against your configuration
Windows Server 2025 User CAL
- SKU
- MS-WS2025-UCAL
- Licence
- Volume
- Term
- Perpetual
₹3,200Indicative, excl. GST (18%) · per seat · Buy now
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Moving the billing relationship to a Cloud Solution Provider is an administrative change. Your tenant, data, configuration and users are unaffected, and there is no downtime.
Yes. Subscriptions through CSP, and perpetual licences such as Windows Server, SQL Server and Office LTSC through volume licensing. We will price both where both are viable for your scenario.
Additions can be made at any time. Reductions take effect at the subscription anniversary, which is why the renewal date is the point at which a genuine review is worth doing.
Get Windows Server sized properly
Send us the physical core count, the number of guests and how staff connect. We will quote the correct core packs and CAL mix rather than a default.