Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Essentials

What you get with Windows Server 2016 Essentials

With this purchase you get a product key for Windows Server 2016 Essentials, the small-business edition of Windows Server 2016. Microsoft licenses it per server for organizations of no more than 25 user accounts and 50 devices, and those users don’t need client access licenses. You receive the key, Microsoft’s download link and installation notes by e-mail, plus a PDF invoice once the order is completed. You pay for it once.

The Essentials Experience in 2016

Windows Server 2016 Essentials is the last Essentials release with the Essentials Experience; Microsoft removed it from 2019 onward. Here it gives you:

• A setup wizard that configures the machine as the first server in your environment and asks for date and time, company details and a network administrator account.
• The Dashboard, one console for user accounts, user groups, devices, server folders, hard drives and add-ins.
• Client computer backup: PCs connected to the server are backed up to it, and files can be restored from the Devices page.
• Remote Web Access, a site at the /remote address of your domain where users with permission connect to their office computers from outside.
• Integration with Microsoft 365, so local accounts can be paired with online accounts from the Dashboard.

Limits and alternatives

The edition runs on servers with up to two processor sockets and 64 GB of RAM, with no core limit. You may run it once on the physical server and once in a virtual machine, and it doesn’t support dynamic disks. If you prefer a newer release and can do without the Dashboard, Windows Server Essentials 2019 keeps the same 25-user model. Past 25 users, Windows Server Standard 2016 with CALs can run the same Essentials Experience as a server role.

Activating Windows Server 2016 Essentials

1. Get the Windows Server 2016 Essentials image through the Microsoft download link we e-mail you, and run setup.
2. Let the Configure Windows Server Essentials wizard finish; Microsoft notes it can take up to 30 minutes and restart the server more than once.
3. Open Control Panel → System and click Activate Windows, or use Settings → Update & Security → Activation, then enter the key with Change product key.
4. From an evaluation installation, run slmgr /ipk and your key in an elevated command prompt to convert it to the full version.

The steps with screenshots are in our illustrated guide to setting up Windows Server.

System requirements

Questions about Windows Server 2016 Essentials

Does it back up the office PCs?

Yes. Client computer backup is part of the 2016 Essentials Experience: you manage PC backups and restore files from the Devices section of the Dashboard.

What happens when we hire employee number 26?

Essentials can’t be extended with CALs. You move to Windows Server Standard 2016 with Windows Server CALs, where the Essentials Experience role is still available.

Can I join it to an existing domain?

The setup wizard creates a new domain by default; to join an existing domain or migrate from an older server, Microsoft points to its Windows Server Essentials deployment guide before you start the wizard.