In Windows Server 2012 R2, the Windows Server Essentials user experience is integrated as a Windows Server role, referred to as Windows Server Essentials Experience. The server role integration enables the following technical capabilities:
- Standard deployment approach with other server roles & features, including offline imaging.
- Remote & batch deployment via Server Manager, which is optimized for hosting environment.
- Support for domain join & deployment on an existing domain controller, which offers more deployment flexibility including 2nd server deployments & branch office deployments. Windows Server 2012 R2 Foundation is an economical, general purpose server for physical computing environments only. It provides customers with a Windows Server experience for up to 15 users. The licensing for Foundation will continue to be a server model with no CAL requirements.