Windows version for web hosting

[DotNetNerd]

I'm thinking about getting my own server for learning before trying to manage my own windows hosting server. I want to use Windows 2012 R2, but there are different versions. Do I really need Standard version for web hosting or can I use Essentials or Foundation version?
I see most hosts use Standard, but why? It looks like Essentials has the features needed for web hosting.

 

[DotNetNerd]

Here is the comparison I was looking at [URLnf="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/robmar/archive/2014/02/10/windows-server-2012-r2-products-and-editions-comparison.aspx"]this[/URLnf]

It looks like you can do web hosting with Windows 2012 Essentials. Is that right?

 

[RDO Servers]

You would think so...

Plesk works on Standard, Datacenter, and Essentials editions
MS SQL Standard works on all editions
MailEnable & ASP.net 4.6 simply say 'Windows 2012 R2 64bit', so I would assume it doesn't matter what version

However, there are other differences.
With essentials, you will be limited on the number of connections, ram, and processors. You will have to be part of a Active Directory Domain. No VM's and no hyper-V, no clustering, etc. You can use it to host websites, but it does not give you a great solution for a production environment.

If you are wanting to learn to manage a Windows Server, simply lease a Windows server from a quality provider. This way you do not have to purchase the Microsoft licence outright. There is no point in learning to do things on Essentials, then having to switch (and learn all over again) how to do everything on Standard.

 

[hmb-robert]

If you want to use a Operating system of your choice I will suggest you to go for a Small size Dedicated server and ask them to install a OS as per your requirement. Once you feel that you are familiar with options and have done all testings then you can easily ask your hosting provider to reload your server OS and start hosting your domain names and data.