In Windows Server 2019 there were four different editions:
- Windows Server 2019 Essentials – For SMB (up to 25 users and 50 devices with no needs of CALs)
- Windows Server 2019 Standard (up to 64 sockets and up to 4 TB RAM with 2 virtual instances licenses included)
- Windows Server 2019 Datacenter – For highly virtualized infrastructures
- Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2019 – Standalone virtualization server without the GUI
But with Windows Server 2022 there are some changes in the different editions.
- Windows Server 2022 Essentials edition is available to purchase from OEMs only
- There is NO Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2022 edition at all: Microsoft suggest to use Windows Server 2022 role or moving to Azure Stack HCI
- There is a new Azure Edition
Windows Server Datacenter: Azure Edition is an edition of Windows Server focused on innovation and virtualization optimized to run on Azure. Azure Edition features a Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) and yearly product updates, with two major product updates in the first 3 years.
Azure Edition also brings new functionality to Windows Server users faster than the Standard and Datacenter editions of Windows Server.
| Features available generally | Windows Server 2022 Standard | Windows Server 2022 Datacenter | Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Extended Network | No | No | Yes |
| Best Practices Analyzer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Containers | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Direct Access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dynamic Memory (in virtualization) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hot Add/Replace RAM | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hotpatching | No | No | Yes |
| Microsoft Management Console | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Minimal Server Interface | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Network Load Balancing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows PowerShell | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Server Core installation option | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Server Manager | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SMB Direct and SMB over RDMA | Yes | Yes | Yes (not supported in Azure) |
| SMB Compression | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SMB over QUIC | No | No | Yes |
| Software-defined Networking | No | Yes | Yes |
| Storage Migration Service | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Storage Replica | Yes, (1 partnership and 1 resource group with a single 2TB volume) | Yes, unlimited | Yes, unlimited |
| Storage Replica Compression | No | No | Yes |
| Storage Spaces | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Storage Spaces Direct | No | Yes | Yes |
| Volume Activation Services | Yes | Yes | Yes, (Cannot Configure as a KMS host) |
| VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) integration | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server Update Services | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Server license logging | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inherited activation | As guest if hosted on Datacenter | Can be a host or a guest | Can be a host or a guest |
| Work Folders | Yes | Yes | Yes |
As you can notice the Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition, has some very nice cool features not available on the “normal” 2022 editions.
For example, hotpatch gives you the ability to apply security updates on your VM without rebooting.
The only way to use this new edition is Create a Windows virtual machine in the Azure portal or Deploy Windows Server Azure Edition VMs in Azure Stack HCI.
But it’s confirmed that the new Windows Server 2025 (planned before the end of this year) will have feature parity with (current build of) Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition.
