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Comparison of locks and limits in Windows Server

Choosing the right edition of Windows Server is essential for meeting your organization's technical and business requirements. This article provides a side-by-side comparison of key operating system locks and limits across supported Windows Server editions. Use these tables to compare key features across Windows Server editions, such as:

  • Maximum number of users
  • Connection limits
  • Virtualization rights
  • Hardware support

This information can help you choose the version that best fits your needs.

Select a Windows Server release to view its locks and limits.

Locks and limits

To view the locks and limits for Windows Server 2025, select the full comparison tab or the version differences tab.

Locks and limits Windows Server 2025 Standard Windows Server 2025 Datacenter Windows Server 2025 Datacenter: Azure Edition
Maximum number of users Based on CALs Based on CALs Based on CALs
Maximum SMB connections 16,777,216 16,777,216 16,777,216
Maximum RRAS connections Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Maximum IAS connections 2,147,483,647 2,147,483,647 2,147,483,647
Maximum RDS connections 65,535 65,535 65,535
Maximum number of 64-bit sockets 64 64 64
Maximum number of cores Unlimited Unlimited 2,048 logical processors
Maximum RAM
  • 4 PB for hosts that support 5-level paging
  • 256 TB for hosts that support 4-level paging
  • 4 PB for hosts that support 5-level paging
  • 256 TB for hosts that support 4-level paging
  • 240 TB for a generation 2 virtual machine
  • 1 TB for a generation 1 virtual machine
Can be used as virtualization guest Yes; 2 virtual machines, plus one Hyper-V host per license Yes; unlimited virtual machines, plus one Hyper-V host per license Yes; unlimited virtual machines, plus one Hyper-V host per license
Windows Server Containers Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Virtual OSE/Hyper-V isolated Containers 2 Unlimited Unlimited
Windows Server Containers Unlimited Windows containers and up to two Hyper-V containers Unlimited Windows containers and Hyper-V containers Unlimited Windows containers and Hyper-V containers
Storage Replica 1 partnership and 1 resource group with a single 2TB volume Unlimited Unlimited

To view the locks and limits for Windows Server 2022, select the full comparison tab or the version differences tab.

Locks and limits Windows Server 2022 Standard Windows Server 2022 Datacenter Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition
Maximum number of users Based on CALs Based on CALs Based on CALs
Maximum SMB connections 16,777,216 16,777,216 16,777,216
Maximum RRAS connections Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Maximum IAS connections 2,147,483,647 2,147,483,647 2,147,483,647
Maximum RDS connections 65,535 65,535 65,535
Maximum number of 64-bit sockets 64 64 64
Maximum number of cores Unlimited Unlimited 1,024 logical processors
Maximum RAM
  • 4 PB for hosts that support 5-level paging
  • 256 TB for hosts that support 4-level paging
  • 4 PB for hosts that support 5-level paging
  • 256 TB for hosts that support 4-level paging
  • 240 TB for a generation 2 virtual machine
  • 1 TB for a generation 1 virtual machine
Can be used as virtualization guest Yes; 2 virtual machines, plus one Hyper-V host per license Yes; unlimited virtual machines, plus one Hyper-V host per license Yes; unlimited virtual machines, plus one Hyper-V host per license
Windows Server Containers Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Virtual OSE/Hyper-V isolated Containers 2 Unlimited Unlimited
Windows Server Containers Unlimited Windows containers and up to two Hyper-V containers Unlimited Windows containers and Hyper-V containers Unlimited Windows containers and Hyper-V containers
Storage Replica 1 partnership and 1 resource group with a single 2TB volume Unlimited Unlimited

To view the locks and limits for Windows Server 2019, select the full comparison tab or the version differences tab.

Locks and limits Windows Server 2019 Standard Windows Server 2019 Datacenter
Maximum number of users Based on CALs Based on CALs
Maximum SMB connections 16,777,216 16,777,216
Maximum RRAS connections Unlimited Unlimited
Maximum IAS connections 2,147,483,647 2,147,483,647
Maximum RDS connections 65,535 65,535
Maximum number of 64-bit sockets 64 64
Maximum number of cores Unlimited Unlimited
Maximum RAM 24 TB 24 TB
Can be used as virtualization guest Yes; 2 virtual machines, plus one Hyper-V host per license Yes; unlimited virtual machines, plus one Hyper-V host per license
Windows Server Containers Unlimited Windows containers and up to two Hyper-V containers Unlimited Windows containers and Hyper-V containers

To view the locks and limits for Windows Server 2016, select the full comparison tab or the version differences tab.

Locks and limits Windows Server 2016 Standard Windows Server 2016 Datacenter
Maximum number of users Based on CALs Based on CALs
Maximum SMB connections 16,777,216 16,777,216
Maximum RRAS connections Unlimited Unlimited
Maximum IAS connections 2,147,483,647 2,147,483,647
Maximum RDS connections 65,535 65,535
Maximum number of 64-bit sockets 64 64
Maximum number of cores Unlimited Unlimited
Maximum RAM 24 TB 24 TB
Can be used as virtualization guest Yes; 2 virtual machines, plus one Hyper-V host per license Yes; unlimited virtual machines, plus one Hyper-V host per license