Windows Server 2012 R2 Explained

Windows Server 2012 R2 should not be confused with Windows Server 2012.

Version Of:	Windows NT
Developer:	Microsoft
Family:	Windows Server
Working State:	Current
Source Model:	Closed source / Shared source
Rtm Date:	^[1]
Release Version:	6.3 (Build 9600)
Release Url:	Web site: October 11, 2022—KB5018474 (Monthly Rollup). support.microsoft.com. October 11, 2022.
Marketing Target:	Business
Update Model:	Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services, SCCM
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:	Windows Server 2012 R2 (archived at Wayback Machine)

Windows Server 2012 R2, codenamed "Windows Server Blue", is the tenth version of the Windows Server operating system by Microsoft, as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It was unveiled on June 3, 2013, at TechEd North America,^[2] and released on October 18 of the same year.^[3] It is the successor to Windows Server 2012, and is based on the Windows 8.1 codebase. Windows Server 2012 R2 is the final version of Windows Server to use the "R2" suffix, which had been used since the release of Windows Server 2003 R2 in 2005.^[4]

Windows Server 2012 R2 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.^[5] It is a cumulative set of security, critical and other updates.^[6] Windows Server 2012 R2, like previous versions of Windows Server before it and versions after it, is only compatible with 64-bit processors. Windows Server 2012 R2 was succeeded by Windows Server 2016, which is derived from the Windows 10 codebase. Mainstream support for Windows Server 2012 R2 ended on October 9, 2018, and extended support ended on October 10, 2023. Windows Server 2012 R2 is eligible for the paid Extended Security Updates (ESU) program, which offers continued security updates until October 13, 2026.

Features

The following features are introduced in Windows Server 2012 R2:

• Automated Tiering: Storage Spaces stores most frequently accessed files on fastest physical media^[7]
• 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.^[8]
• UEFI-based virtual machines
• Upgrades from driver emulators to synthetic hardware drivers to minimize legacy support
• Faster VM deployment (approximately half the time)^[9]
• 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).^[10]
• 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^[11]
• Windows Deployment Services: Support for managing WDS via PowerShell.^[12]
• Windows Defender is available in a Server Core installation, and is installed and enabled by default.^[13]
• 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.^[14]
• 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.^[15] 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.^[16]
• TLS support is extended to support, "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.^[17]
• Windows Server Update Services was made available for Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials edition.^[18]
• ReFS gained support for alternate data streams and automatic error-correction on parity spaces.^[19]

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.^[20] 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.^[21]

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.^{[22] [23] [24]}

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.^[25] 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.

See also

• Microsoft Servers
• Comparison of Microsoft Windows versions
• History of Microsoft Windows
• Comparison of operating systems
• List of operating systems

Further reading

• Web site: Mackie . Kurt . Microsoft Profiles Hyper-V Improvements in Windows Server 2012 R2 . Redmondmag.com . June 20, 2013 . September 20, 2013.
• Web site: Best of TechEd 2013 – What's New in Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 R2 - IT Pros ROCK! at Microsoft - Site Home - TechNet Blogs . Blogs.technet.com . June 10, 2013 . September 20, 2013.
• Web site: Top Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Virtualization Features . Petri.co.il . June 3, 2013 . September 20, 2013 . February 22, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140222015936/http://www.petri.co.il/top-virtualization-features-in-windows-server-2012-r2-hyper-v.htm . dead .
• Web site: John . Savill . New Features Windows Server 2012 R2 | Windows Server 2012 content from . Windows IT Pro . June 3, 2013 . September 20, 2013.
• Web site: Paul . Thurrott . Windows Server 2012 Essentials R2 Preview | Windows Server 2012 content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows . Winsupersite.com . June 7, 2013 . September 20, 2013.
• Web site: Microsoft Announces Windows Server 2012 R2 at TechEd 2013 North America - Canadian IT Professionals - Site Home - TechNet Blogs . Blogs.technet.com . June 3, 2013 . September 20, 2013.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Anderson. Brad. Today is the RTM for Windows Server 2012 R2!. Enterprise Mobility and Security Blog. Microsoft. 27 August 2013.
2. Web site: Damien Caro . Windows Server 2012 R2–First look - Damien Caro's Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs . Blogs.technet.com . June 10, 2013 . June 25, 2013.
3. Web site: Jeff Meisner . 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 . TechNet Blogs . August 14, 2013 . February 10, 2014.
4. Web site: What is Windows Server?—IT Glossary | SolarWinds .
5. Web site: August updates for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 - Windows Experience BlogWindows Experience Blog. blogs.windows.com.
6. Web site: Windows Server 2012 R2 Update (KB2919355). Microsoft Download Center.
7. Web site: Joab . Jackson . Windows Server 2012 R2 bulks up on storage and networking . . . June 5, 2013 . September 20, 2013.
8. Web site: Windows 8.1 Start button revealed in Windows Server 2012 R2 . Neowin.net . Neowin LLC . June 25, 2013 . September 20, 2013 . Brad . Sams.
9. Book: Tulloch, Mitch. Introducing Windows Server 2012 R2. 2013. Microsoft Press. Redmond, Washington. 978-0-7356-8293-1. Preview Release. September 19, 2013.
10. Web site: What's New in IIS 8.5?. 14 May 2020 . Microsoft.
11. Web site: What's New for SMB in Windows Server 2012 R2. 31 August 2016 .
12. Web site: What's New for Windows Deployment Services in Windows Server 2012 R2. 31 August 2016 .
13. Web site: What's Changed in Security Technologies in Windows 8.1. 25 June 2014 .
14. Web site: What's New in IPAM in Windows Server 2012 R2. 31 August 2016 .
15. Web site: What's New in Group Policy in Windows Server 2012 R2. 31 August 2016 . Microsoft.
16. Web site: What's new in Group Policy in Windows Server 2012 R2. 25 June 2013. Group Policy Central.
17. Web site: Understanding Licensing for Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials and the Windows Server Essentials Experience role . The Windows Server Essentials and Small Business Server Blog . David . Fabritius . 3 September 2013.
18. Web site: Windows Server 2012 R2 Products and Editions Comparison. Download Center. Microsoft. 30 June 2016. 7 February 2014.
19. Web site: Resilient File System Overview. 29 February 2012. TechNet Library. Microsoft. 25 December 2013.
20. Web site: Cloud Optimize Your Business . Microsoft . August 2, 2013.
21. Web site: Mackie . Kurt . Microsoft Enhancing Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials for SMBs . Redmondmag.com . June 20, 2013 . June 25, 2013.
22. Web site: Windows Server 2012. Microsoft Docs. July 28, 2021. July 28, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210728002409/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-server-2012. live.
23. Web site: Microsoft Extends Windows Server 2012 Support -- Redmondmag.com. Redmondmag. July 28, 2021. July 28, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210728002410/https://redmondmag.com/articles/2017/03/16/windows-server-2012-support-extended.aspx. live.
24. Web site: Windows Server 2012 Nears End of life. February 3, 2020. July 28, 2021. January 26, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210126115829/https://catstechnology.com/windows-server-2012-end-of-life-nearing/. live.
25. Web site: Product Lifecycle FAQ - Extended Security Updates. docs.microsoft.com. July 28, 2021. July 29, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210729055658/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-US/lifecycle/faq/extended-security-updates. live.