Windows Server Comparison

This table provides a complete comparison of available roles and features in Windows Server 2025 across Standard, Datacenter, and Datacenter: Azure Edition.

Available roles and features

Feature Sub-feature Standard Edition Datacenter Edition Datacenter: Azure Edition
.NET Framework 3.5 Features
.NET Framework 4.8 Features
Activation Automatic Virtual Machine Activation ⚠️¹ ✅² ³
Activation Key Management Service (KMS)
Active Directory Certificate Services Certificate Enrollment Policy Web Service
Active Directory Certificate Services Certificate Enrollment Web Service
Active Directory Certificate Services Certification Authority
Active Directory Certificate Services Certification Authority Web Enrollment
Active Directory Certificate Services Network Device Enrollment Service
Active Directory Certificate Services Online Responder
Active Directory Domain Services
Active Directory Federation Services
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
Active Directory Rights Management Services
Azure Extended Networking
Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)
BitLocker Drive Encryption
BitLocker Network Unlock ✅⁴ ✅⁴ ✅⁴
BranchCache
Client for Network File System (NFS)
Data Center Bridging
Device Health Attestation
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Server
Direct Play ✅³ ✅⁴ ✅⁴
Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) codecs and web media streaming ✅³ ✅⁴ ✅⁴
Domain Name System (DNS) Server
Enhanced Storage
Failover Clustering
Fax Server
File and Storage Services BranchCache for Network Files
File and Storage Services Data Deduplication
File and Storage Services DFS Namespaces
File and Storage Services DFS Replication
File and Storage Services File Server
File and Storage Services File Server Resource Manager
File and Storage Services File Server Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) Agent
File and Storage Services iSCSI Target Server
File and Storage Services iSCSI Target Storage Provider (Virtual Disk Service (VDS) and Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) hardware providers)
File and Storage Services Server for Network File System (NFS)
File and Storage Services Server Message Block (SMB) 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support
File and Storage Services Server Message Block (SMB) Bandwidth Limit
File and Storage Services Server Message Block (SMB) over QUIC
File and Storage Services Work Folders
File and Storage Services Storage Migration Service
File and Storage Services Storage Migration Service Proxy
File and Storage Services Storage Spaces
File and Storage Services Storage Spaces Direct
File and Storage Services Storage Replica
Group Policy Management
Host Guardian Hyper-V Support
Host Guardian Service
Hotpatching ✅⁵ ✅⁵
I/O Quality of Service
Internet Information Services (IIS) Hostable Web Core
IP Address Management (IPAM) Server
Management OData IIS Extension
Media Foundation
Message Queuing
Message Queuing DCOM Proxy
Message Queuing Services
Microsoft Defender Antivirus
Multipath I/O
MultiPoint Connector
Network ATC
Network Controller
Network Load Balancing
Network Policy and Access Services ✅⁴ ✅⁴ ✅⁴
Network Virtualization
Print and Document Services Internet Printing ✅⁴ ✅⁴ ✅⁴
Print and Document Services Line Printer Daemon (LPD) Service ✅⁴ ✅⁴ ✅⁴
Print and Document Services Print Server ✅⁴ ✅⁴ ✅⁴
Quality Windows Audio Video Experience
Remote Access DirectAccess and VPN (Remote Access Service)
Remote Access Routing
Remote Access Web Application Proxy
Remote Assistance ✅⁴ ✅⁴ ✅⁴
Remote Desktop Services ✅⁴ ✅⁴ ✅⁴
Remote Differential Compression
Remote Server Administration Tools
RPC over HTTP Proxy
Setup and Boot Event Collection
Simple TCP/IP Services ✅⁴ ✅⁴ ✅⁴
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Service
Software Load Balancer
System Data Archiver
System Insights
Telnet Client
Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) Client ✅⁴ ✅⁴ ✅⁴
Virtualization Containers
Virtualization Hyper-V
Virtualization GPU Partitioning ✅⁶ ✅⁶
Virtualization VM Shielding Tools for Fabric Management
Volume Activation Services
Web Server (IIS) FTP Server
Web Server (IIS) Web Server
WebDAV Redirector ✅⁴
Windows Biometric Framework ✅⁴ ✅⁴ ✅⁴
Windows Deployment Services
Windows Identity Foundation 3.5 ✅⁴ ✅⁴ ✅⁴
Windows Internal Database
Windows PowerShell PowerShell 2.0 Engine
Windows PowerShell PowerShell 5.1
Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration Service
Windows PowerShell Web Access
Windows Process Activation Service
Windows Search Service ✅⁴ ✅⁴ ✅⁴
Windows Server Backup
Windows Server Migration Tools
Windows Server Update Services
Windows Standards-Based Storage Management
Windows Subsystem for Linux
Windows TIFF IFilter ✅⁴ ✅⁴ ✅⁴
WinRM IIS Extension
WINS Server
Wireless LAN Service
WoW64 Support
XPS Viewer ✅⁴ ✅⁴ ✅⁴

¹ Available as a guest if hosted on a virtualization host activated with Datacenter edition.

² Datacenter: Azure Edition can be used as a nested host or guest.

³ Activated by Azure and can’t be configured as a KMS host.

When installed as Server with Desktop Experience.

Available as an Azure Arc-enabled service. To learn more about Azure Arc pricing, see the Azure Pricing Calculator.

Available with Windows Server 2025 Standard, and is designed for standalone servers. Live migrate VMs between standalone nodes for planned downtime. If clustering is required for unplanned downtime, Windows Server 2025 Datacenter must be used instead.

Available roles and features

Feature Sub-feature Standard Edition Datacenter Edition Datacenter: Azure Edition
.NET Framework 3.5 Features
.NET Framework 4.8 Features
Activation Automatic Virtual Machine Activation ⚠️¹
Activation Key Management Service (KMS) ²
Active Directory Certificate Services Certificate Enrollment Policy Web Service
Active Directory Certificate Services Certificate Enrollment Web Service
Active Directory Certificate Services Certification Authority
Active Directory Certificate Services Certification Authority Web Enrollment
Active Directory Certificate Services Network Device Enrollment Service
Active Directory Certificate Services Online Responder
Active Directory Domain Services
Active Directory Federation Services
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
Active Directory Rights Management Services
Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)
BitLocker Drive Encryption
BitLocker Network Unlock ³ ³ ³
BranchCache
Client for NFS
Data Center Bridging
Device Health Attestation
DHCP Server
Direct Play ³ ³ ³
DLNA codecs and web media streaming ³ ³ ³
DNS Server
Enhanced Storage
Failover Clustering
Fax Server
File and Storage Services BranchCache for Network Files
File and Storage Services Data Deduplication
File and Storage Services DFS Namespaces
File and Storage Services DFS Replication
File and Storage Services File Server
File and Storage Services File Server Resource Manager
File and Storage Services File Server VSS Agent Service
File and Storage Services iSCSI Target Server
File and Storage Services iSCSI Target Storage Provider (VDS and VSS hardware providers)
File and Storage Services Server for NFS
File and Storage Services SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support
File and Storage Services SMB Bandwidth Limit
File and Storage Services SMB over QUIC
File and Storage Services Work Folders
Storage Migration Service
Storage Migration Service Proxy
Storage Spaces
Storage Spaces Direct
Storage Replica
Group Policy Management
Host Guardian Hyper-V Support
Host Guardian Service
Hotpatching
I/O Quality of Service
IIS Hostable Web Core
IP Address Management (IPAM) Server
Management OData IIS Extension
Media Foundation
Message Queuing Message Queuing DCOM Proxy
Message Queuing Message Queuing Services
Microsoft Defender Antivirus
Multipath I/O
MultiPoint Connector
Network ATC
Network Controller
Network Load Balancing
Network Policy and Access Services ³ ³ ³
Network Virtualization
Print and Document Services Internet Printing ³ ³ ³
Print and Document Services Line Printer Daemon (LPD) Service ³ ³ ³
Print and Document Services Print Server ³ ³ ³
Quality Windows Audio Video Experience
RAS Connection Manager Administration Kit (CMAK)
Remote Access DirectAccess and VPN (RAS)
Remote Access Routing
Remote Access Web Application Proxy
Remote Assistance ³ ³ ³
Remote Desktop Services ³ ³ ³
Remote Differential Compression
Remote Server Administration Tools
RPC over HTTP Proxy
Setup and Boot Event Collection
Simple TCP/IP Services ³ ³ ³
SNMP Service
Software Load Balancer
System Data Archiver
System Insights
Telnet Client
TFTP Client ³ ³ ³
Virtualization Containers
Virtualization Hyper-V
Virtualization VM Shielding Tools for Fabric Management
Volume Activation Services
Web Server (IIS) FTP Server
Web Server (IIS) Web Server
WebDAV Redirector
Windows Biometric Framework ³ ³ ³
Windows Deployment Services
Windows Identity Foundation 3.5 ³ ³ ³
Windows Internal Database
Windows PowerShell Windows PowerShell 2.0 Engine
Windows PowerShell Windows PowerShell 5.1
Windows PowerShell Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration Service
Windows PowerShell Windows PowerShell Web Access
Windows Process Activation Service
Windows Search Service ³ ³ ³
Windows Server Backup
Windows Server Migration Tools
Windows Server Update Services
Windows Standards-Based Storage Management
Windows Subsystem for Linux
Windows TIFF IFilter ³ ³ ³
WinRM IIS Extension
WINS Server
Wireless LAN Service
WoW64 Support
XPS Viewer ³ ³ ³

¹ Available as a guest if hosted on a virtualization host activated with Datacenter edition.
² Activated by Azure and can’t be configured as a KMS host.
³ When installed as Server with Desktop Experience.

Available roles and features

Feature Sub-feature Standard edition Datacenter edition Datacenter: Azure Edition
.NET Framework 3.5 Features
.NET Framework 4.8 Features
Activation Automatic Virtual Machine Activation ⚠️¹ ❌²
Key Management Service (KMS)
Active Directory Certificate Services Certificate Enrollment Policy Web Service
Active Directory Certificate Services Certificate Enrollment Web Service
Certification Authority
Certification Authority Web Enrollment
Network Device Enrollment Service
Online Responder
Active Directory Domain Services
Active Directory Federation Services
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
Active Directory Rights Management Services
Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)
BitLocker Drive Encryption
BitLocker Network Unlock ✅² ✅² ✅²
BranchCache
Client for NFS
Data Center Bridging
Device Health Attestation
DHCP Server
Direct Play ✅² ✅² ✅²
DLNA codecs and web media streaming ✅² ✅² ✅²
DNS Server
Enhanced Storage
Failover Clustering
Fax Server
File and Storage Services BranchCache for Network Files
Data Deduplication
DFS Namespaces
DFS Replication
File Server
File Server Resource Manager
File Server VSS Agent Service
iSCSI Target Server
iSCSI Target Storage Provider (VDS and VSS hardware providers)
Server for NFS
SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support
SMB Bandwidth Limit
SMB over QUIC
Work Folders
Storage Migration Service
Storage Migration Service Proxy
Storage Spaces
Storage Spaces Direct
Storage Replica
Group Policy Management
Host Guardian Hyper-V Support
Host Guardian Service
Hotpatching
I/O Quality of Service
IIS Hostable Web Core
IP Address Management (IPAM) Server
Management OData IIS Extension
Media Foundation
Message Queuing
Message Queuing DCOM Proxy
Message Queuing Services
Microsoft Defender Antivirus
Multipath I/O
MultiPoint Connector
Network ATC
Network Controller
Network Load Balancing
Network Policy and Access Services
Network Virtualization
Print and Document Services
Internet Printing
Line Printer Daemon (LPD) Service
Print Server
Quality Windows Audio Video Experience
RAS Connection Manager Administration Kit (CMAK)
Remote Access
DirectAccess and VPN (RAS)
Routing
Web Application Proxy
Remote Assistance
Remote Desktop Services
Remote Differential Compression
Remote Server Administration Tools
RPC over HTTP Proxy
Setup and Boot Event Collection
Simple TCP/IP Services
SNMP Service
Software Load Balancer
System Data Archiver
System Insights
Telnet Client
TFTP Client
Virtualization
Containers
Hyper-V
VM Shielding Tools for Fabric Management
Volume Activation Services
Web Server (IIS)
FTP Server
Web Server
WebDAV Redirector
Windows Biometric Framework
Windows Deployment Services
Windows Identity Foundation 3.5
Windows Internal Database
Windows PowerShell
Windows PowerShell 2.0 Engine
Windows PowerShell 5.1
Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration Service
Windows PowerShell Web Access
Windows Process Activation Service
Windows Search Service
Windows Server Backup
Windows Server Migration Tools
Windows Server Update Services
Windows Standards-Based Storage Management
Windows Subsystem for Linux
Windows TIFF IFilter
WinRM IIS Extension
WINS Server
Wireless LAN Service
WoW64 Support
XPS Viewer

¹ As a guest if hosted on a virtualization host activated with Datacenter edition

² When installed as Server with Desktop Experience

Available roles and features

Feature Sub-feature Standard Edition Datacenter Edition
.NET Framework 3.5 Features
4.6 Features
Activation Automatic Virtual Machine Activation ⚠️¹
Key Management Service (KMS)
Active Directory Certificate Services Certificate Enrollment Policy Web Service
Certificate Enrollment Web Service
Certification Authority
Certification Authority Web Enrollment
Network Device Enrollment Service
Online Responder
Active Directory Domain Services
Active Directory Federation Services
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
Active Directory Rights Management Services
Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)
BitLocker Drive Encryption
BitLocker Network Unlock ✅² ✅²
BranchCache
Client for NFS
Data Center Bridging
Device Health Attestation
DHCP Server
Direct Play ✅² ✅²
DLNA codecs and web media streaming ✅² ✅²
DNS Server
Enhanced Storage
Failover Clustering
Fax Server
File and Storage Services BranchCache for Network Files
Data Deduplication
DFS Namespaces
DFS Replication
File Server
File Server Resource Manager
File Server VSS Agent Service
iSCSI Target Server
iSCSI Target Storage Provider (VDS and VSS hardware providers)
Server for NFS
SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support
SMB Bandwidth Limit
SMB over QUIC
Work Folders
Storage Migration Service
Storage Migration Service Proxy
Storage Spaces
Storage Spaces Direct
Group Policy Management
Host Guardian Hyper-V Support
Host Guardian Service
I/O Quality of Service
IIS Hostable Web Core
IP Address Management (IPAM) Server
Management OData IIS Extension
Media Foundation
Microsoft Defender Antivirus
Multipath I/O
Network ATC
Network Controller
Remote Desktop Services Remote Assistance ✅² ✅²
Remote Access DirectAccess and VPN (RAS)
Routing
Web Application Proxy
SNMP Service
Software Load Balancer
Telnet Client
TFTP Client ✅² ✅²
Virtualization Containers
Hyper-V
VM Shielding Tools for Fabric Management
Volume Activation Services
Windows Identity Foundation 3.5 ✅² ✅²
Windows PowerShell PowerShell 2.0 Engine
PowerShell 5.1
PowerShell Desired State Configuration Service
PowerShell Web Access
Windows Process Activation Service
Windows Search Service ✅² ✅²
Windows Server Backup
Windows Server Migration Tools
Windows Server Update Services
Windows Standards-Based Storage Management
Windows Subsystem for Linux
Windows TIFF IFilter ✅² ✅²
WinRM IIS Extension
WINS Server
Wireless LAN Service
WoW64 Support ✅² ✅²
XPS Viewer ✅² ✅²

¹ As a guest if hosted on a virtualization host activated with Datacenter edition.

²When installed as Server with Desktop Experience.

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