Windows Server 2012 R2#Windows Server 2012 R2

{{Short description|Seventh version of Windows Server, released in 2013}}

{{Infobox OS

| version of = Windows NT

| name =

| logo = Windows_Server_2012_R2_logo_and_wordmark.svg

| logo_size =

| screenshot = Windows-Server-2012-R2-Update-3-Desktop.png

| caption = Screenshot of Windows Server 2012 R2, showing the Server Manager application which is automatically opened when an administrator logs on, start button, taskbar, and the blue color of Aero Lite

| developer = Microsoft

| family = Windows Server

| working state = Current

| source_model = Closed source / Shared source

| RTM date = {{Start date and age|2013|8|27}}{{cite web|last1=Anderson|first1=Brad|title=Today is the RTM for Windows Server 2012 R2!|url=https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/enterprisemobility/2013/08/27/today-is-the-rtm-for-windows-server-2012-r2/|website=Enterprise Mobility and Security Blog|publisher=Microsoft|date=27 August 2013}}

| GA date = {{Start date and age|2013|10|17}}

| release version = 6.3.9600 with May 2025 monthly update rollup

| release date = {{Start date and age|2025|5|13}}

| release url = {{cite web|url=https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/5058403|title=May 13, 2025—KB5058403 (Monthly Rollup)|website=support.microsoft.com|date=May 13, 2025}}

| marketing target = Business

| programmed in =

| language =

| language count =

| language footnote =

| update model = Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services, SCCM

| package manager =

| supported platforms = x86-64

| kernel type = Hybrid (Windows NT kernel)

| ui = Windows shell (GUI)

| license = Trialware

| preceded by = Windows Server 2012 (2012)

| succeeded by = Windows Server 2016 (2016)

| website = [https://web.archive.org/web/20131026034603/http://www.microsoft.com:80/en-us/server-cloud/products/windows-server-2012-r2/default.aspx Windows Server 2012 R2] (archived at Wayback Machine)

| support status = {{Plainlist|

Mainstream support ended on October 9, 2018
Extended support ended on October 10, 2023{{cite web|title=Search product lifecycle – Windows Server 2012 R2|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/?terms=Windows%20Server%202012%20R2|publisher=Microsoft.com|access-date=December 27, 2018}}
Paid support via the Extended Security Updates program until October 13, 2026, only for volume licensed editions.

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| other articles =

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Windows Server 2012 R2, codenamed "Windows Server Blue", is the tenth major version of the Windows NT operating system produced by Microsoft to be released under the Windows Server brand name. It was unveiled on June 3, 2013, at TechEd North America,{{cite web|author=Damien Caro |url=http://blogs.technet.com/b/dcaro/archive/2013/06/11/windows-server-2012-r2-first-look.aspx |title=Windows Server 2012 R2–First look - Damien Caro's Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs |publisher=Blogs.technet.com |date=June 10, 2013 |access-date=June 25, 2013}} and released on October 18 of the same year.{{cite web|author=Jeff Meisner |url=http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2013/08/14/ve-the-date-windows-server-2012-r2-windows-system-center-2012-r2-and-windows-intune-update-coming-oct-18.aspx |title=Save the date: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows System Center 2012 R2 and Windows Intune update coming Oct. 18 - The Official Microsoft Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs |publisher=TechNet Blogs |date=August 14, 2013 |access-date=February 10, 2014}} It is the successor to Windows Server 2012, and is based on the Windows 8.1 codebase. It is the final version of Windows Server to use the "R2" suffix, which had been used since the release of Windows Server 2003 R2.{{cite web | url=https://www.solarwinds.com/resources/it-glossary/windows-server | title=What is Windows Server?—IT Glossary | SolarWinds }}

It removed support for processors without CMPXCHG16b, PrefetchW, LAHF and SAHF.

A further update, formally designated Windows Server 2012 R2 Update, was released in April 2014.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2014/08/05/august-updates-for-windows-8-1-and-windows-server-2012-r2/|title=August updates for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 - Windows Experience BlogWindows Experience Blog|website=blogs.windows.com}} It is a cumulative set of security, critical and other updates.{{cite web|url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=42334|title=Windows Server 2012 R2 Update (KB2919355)|website=Microsoft Download Center}} Windows Server 2012 R2, like previous versions of Windows Server before it and versions after it, is only compatible with 64-bit processors.

It was succeeded by the Windows 10-based Windows Server 2016. Mainstream support ended on October 9, 2018, and extended support ended on October 10, 2023. It is eligible for the paid Extended Security Updates (ESU) program, which offers continued security updates until October 13, 2026.

Features

File:Windows_Server_2012_R2.png, including Internet Explorer 11 and essential tools for use in a server]]

The following features are introduced in Windows Server 2012 R2:

Automated Tiering: Storage Spaces stores most frequently accessed files on fastest physical media{{cite web|first=Joab |last=Jackson |url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/2040864/windows-server-2012-r2-bulks-up-on-storage-and-networking.html |title=Windows Server 2012 R2 bulks up on storage and networking |work=PC World |publisher=IDG |date=June 5, 2013 |access-date=September 20, 2013}}
Deduplication for VHD: Reduces the storage space for VHD files with largely similar contents by storing the similar contents only once
Windows PowerShell v4, which now includes a Desired State Configuration (DSC) feature
Integrated Office 365 support (Essentials edition)
User interface changes reflecting Windows 8.1, including visible Start button.{{cite web|url=http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-81-start-button-revealed-in-windows-server-2012-r2 |title=Windows 8.1 Start button revealed in Windows Server 2012 R2 |work=Neowin.net |publisher=Neowin LLC |date=June 25, 2013 |access-date=September 20, 2013 |first=Brad |last=Sams}}
UEFI-based virtual machines
Upgrades from driver emulators to synthetic hardware drivers to minimize legacy support
Faster VM deployment (approximately half the time){{cite book|last=Tulloch|first=Mitch|title=Introducing Windows Server 2012 R2|year=2013|publisher=Microsoft Press|location=Redmond, Washington|isbn=978-0-7356-8293-1|url=http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/4/1/741189C7-ECC5-4012-BCC2-E94D5DD7145E/Microsoft_Press_ebook_Introducing_Windows_Server_2012_R2_Preview_PDF.pdf|edition=Preview Release|access-date=September 19, 2013}}
Internet Information Services 8.5: Support for logging to Event Tracing for Windows and the ability to log any request/response headers. To improve scalability, if IIS is configured with 100 or more web sites, by default it will not automatically start any of them. Alongside this, a new "Idle Worker Process Page-Out" configuration option has been added to application pools to instruct Windows to page-out the process if it has been idle for the idle time-out period (by default, 20 minutes).{{cite web|url=http://www.iis.net/learn/get-started/whats-new-in-iis-85|title=What's New in IIS 8.5?|date=14 May 2020 |publisher=Microsoft}}
Server Message Block: Performance and event logging quality improvements, support for Hyper-V Live Migration over SMB, bandwidth prioritization management, and the ability to remove SMB 1.0 support{{cite web|url=https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831474.aspx|title=What's New for SMB in Windows Server 2012 R2|date=31 August 2016 }}
Windows Deployment Services: Support for managing WDS via PowerShell.{{cite web|url=https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn281955.aspx|title=What's New for Windows Deployment Services in Windows Server 2012 R2|date=31 August 2016 }}
Windows Defender is available in a Server Core installation, and is installed and enabled by default.{{cite web|url=https://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/b92b04bc-95db-4732-b4ec-d35b3f639275#BKMK_WindowsDefender|title=What's Changed in Security Technologies in Windows 8.1|date=25 June 2014 }}{{Dubious |reason=Windows Defender does not exist even use any installation options |date=May 2015}}
IP Address Management (IPAM): Extended to support role-based access control, allowing for fine-grained control over which users can view or change configurations for DHCP reservations, scopes, IP address blocks, DNS resource records, etc. Additionally, IPAM can integrate with System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 R2 to have coordinated IP policy across both physical and virtual environments. The IPAM database can be stored in a SQL Server instance instead of Windows Internal Database.{{cite web|url=https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn268500.aspx|title=What's New in IPAM in Windows Server 2012 R2|date=31 August 2016 }}
Group Policy has a new "Policy Cache" setting which allows domain-joined machines to store a copy of the group policy settings on the client machine and, depending on the speed of access to the domain controller, use those at startup time instead of waiting for the policy settings to download. This can improve startup times on machines that are disconnected from the company network.{{cite web|url=https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn265973.aspx|title=What's New in Group Policy in Windows Server 2012 R2|date=31 August 2016 |publisher=Microsoft}} New Group Policy settings have been added to cover new features in Windows 8.1 and Internet Explorer 11, such as enabling/disabling SPDY/3 support, configuring start screen layouts, and detecting phone numbers in web pages.{{cite web|url=http://www.grouppolicy.biz/2013/06/whats-new-in-group-policy-in-windows-server-2012-r2/|title=What's new in Group Policy in Windows Server 2012 R2|date=25 June 2013|publisher=Group Policy Central}}
TLS support is extended to support {{IETF RFC|5077}}, "Transport Layer Security (TLS) Session Resumption without Server-Side State", which improves performance of long-running TLS-secured connections that need to reconnect due to session expiration.
Hyper-V role and Hyper-V management console are added to the Essentials edition.{{cite web |url=http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2013/09/03/understanding-licensing-for-windows-server-2012-r2-essentials-and-the-windows-server-essentials-experience-role.aspx |title=Understanding Licensing for Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials and the Windows Server Essentials Experience role |work=The Windows Server Essentials and Small Business Server Blog |first=David |last=Fabritius |date=3 September 2013}}
Windows Server Update Services was made available for Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials edition.{{cite web|title=Windows Server 2012 R2 Products and Editions Comparison|url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=41703|website=Download Center|publisher=Microsoft|access-date=30 June 2016|date=7 February 2014}}
ReFS gained support for alternate data streams and automatic error-correction on parity spaces.{{cite web|url = https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831724.aspx|title = Resilient File System Overview|date = 29 February 2012|website = TechNet Library|publisher = Microsoft|access-date = 25 December 2013}}

Editions

According to the Windows Server 2012 R2 datasheet published on May 31, 2013, there are four editions of this operating system: Foundation, Essentials, Standard and Datacenter.{{cite web | url=http://download.microsoft.com/download/F/3/9/F39124F7-0177-463C-8A08-582463F96C9D/Windows_Server_2012_R2_Licensing_Datasheet.pdf | title=Cloud Optimize Your Business | publisher=Microsoft | access-date=August 2, 2013}} As with Windows Server 2012, the Datacenter and Standard editions are feature-identical, varying only based on licensing (particularly licensing of virtual instances). The Essentials edition has the same features as the Datacenter and Standard products, with some restrictions.{{cite web|last=Mackie |first=Kurt |url=http://redmondmag.com/articles/2013/06/24/windows-server-2012-r2-essentials.aspx |title=Microsoft Enhancing Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials for SMBs |publisher=Redmondmag.com |date=June 20, 2013 |access-date=June 25, 2013}}

Support lifecycle

Microsoft originally planned to end mainstream support for Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 on January 9, 2018, with extended support ending on January 10, 2023. In order to provide customers the standard transition lifecycle timeline, Microsoft extended Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 support in March 2017 by 9 months. Windows Server 2012 reached the end of mainstream support on October 9, 2018 and entered the extended support phase, which ended on October 10, 2023.{{cite web|url= https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-server-2012|title= Windows Server 2012|website= Microsoft Docs|access-date= July 28, 2021|archive-date= July 28, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210728002409/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-server-2012|url-status= live}}{{Cite web|url=https://redmondmag.com/articles/2017/03/16/windows-server-2012-support-extended.aspx|title=Microsoft Extends Windows Server 2012 Support -- Redmondmag.com|website=Redmondmag|access-date=July 28, 2021|archive-date=July 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728002410/https://redmondmag.com/articles/2017/03/16/windows-server-2012-support-extended.aspx|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://catstechnology.com/windows-server-2012-end-of-life-nearing|title=Windows Server 2012 Nears End of life|date=February 3, 2020|access-date=July 28, 2021|archive-date=January 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126115829/https://catstechnology.com/windows-server-2012-end-of-life-nearing/|url-status=live}}

Microsoft announced in July 2021 that they will distribute paid Extended Security Updates for volume licensed editions of Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 for up to 3 years after the end of extended support.{{Cite web|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/faq/extended-security-updates|title=Product Lifecycle FAQ - Extended Security Updates|website=docs.microsoft.com|access-date=July 28, 2021|archive-date=July 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729055658/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-US/lifecycle/faq/extended-security-updates|url-status=live}} For Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2, these updates will last until October 13, 2026. This will mark the final end of all security updates for the Windows NT 6.2 product line after 14 years, 2 months and 12 days and will also mark the final end of all security updates for the Windows NT 6.3 product line after 13 years, 1 month and 16 days.

Windows Server 2012 R2#Windows Server 2012 R2

Features

Editions

Support lifecycle

See also

References

Further reading