Windows Server 2025 Datacenter – Server licence (unlimited virtual machines)

Windows Server 2025 Datacenter is the most complete edition of the latest generation of the Microsoft server. Compared with the Standard edition, it brings two decisive differences: the right to run an unlimited number of Windows virtual machines on the licensed hardware, and full access to the software-defined storage and networking features. It is the edition of datacentres, hosting providers and hyper-converged infrastructures.

What Datacenter unlocks

• Unlimited Hyper-V virtual machines and containers — consolidation is now bounded only by the hardware. Beyond two or three VMs per host, the Datacenter edition becomes more cost-effective than stacking Standard licences.
• Storage Spaces Direct — resilient shared storage built on the local disks of the nodes, without a SAN array, with the new far more performant NVMe stack.
• Storage Replica without restriction — replication of volumes between servers or between sites, synchronous or asynchronous, for disaster recovery.
• Software-defined networking (SDN) — network controller, distributed firewall, software load balancing and multi-tenant segmentation.
• Shielded virtual machines and partitioned GPU — encrypted sensitive workloads, and sharing of a graphics card between several VMs for desktop virtualisation or inference.

The Windows Server 2025 foundation

Hotpatch updates without restarting, modernised Active Directory (strengthened Kerberos encryption, secure LDAP by default), hardened SMB with mandatory signing and SMB over QUIC, Secured-core security, Windows Admin Center and Azure Arc hybridisation. Extended support until October 2034.

CALs are still required

Datacenter does not do away with access licences. Each user or device that connects to the server requires a Windows Server 2025 CAL, and every Remote Desktop session an additional RDS CAL. CALs are legal rights and not software; RDS CALs add to Windows Server CALs without replacing them.

Installation and activation

You receive the key by e-mail within 24 hours at most. Install Windows Server 2025 choosing the Datacenter edition, then activate with the key via Settings › Activation or the slmgr command.

Buy Windows Server 2025 Datacenter in Switzerland

CHKEY is a Swiss company established in Lausanne. Price in CHF, official invoice, support in French. Key sent by e-mail within 24h at most after payment.