Windows server 2012 r2

shaned on 23/01/2017 - 11:49

Hi ozbargainers,

I have recently decided to learn how to admin on a windows server environment.

I have purchased the hardware I require for my little educational project.

I am now at the stage of acquiring a license for windows server essentials 2012 r2.

Any recommendations of where I should purchase from ?

I have been told going through a vpn and getting it from Russia or Vietnam tends to be more cost effective.

Would love to hear your advice and oppinions based on actual experiences.

Originally I was looking at getting it from mwave or eBay.

Computing

Comments

  • skrep on 23/01/2017 - 12:16
    +1

    Reddit is where I get mine for educational purposes.

    Keep in mind you can have up to 180 days for 'evaluation' as well without needing a license.

    • shaned on 23/01/2017 - 14:30

      I was hoping for more than 180 days, but the reset below is tempting

  • Sergeant Salami on 23/01/2017 - 13:06
    +1

    You don't need to purchase it. You can download a 180 day evaluation trial from MS and then there is a command that restarts the trial again.

    Here's the link to download 2012 This will let you choose datacentre or standard editions.

    The command to reset the 30 day trial is:

    slmgr.vbs -rearm

    Open CMD and type this in, reboot and you should be good for another 180 days.

    • tonyjzx on 23/01/2017 - 14:27
      +1

      This ^^^

      I do believe that Microsoft knows this exists so you cant indefinitely rearm.

      Would love to be prove wrong here.

      • shaned on 23/01/2017 - 14:30

        Can anyone confirm ?

        • tonyjzx on 23/01/2017 - 14:34

          my question to you is that if you wanted to learn, surely you should find out yourself?

          unfortunately a part of being a network slash systems engineer is that you need to know windows server at least quite well and that includes the way it authenticates

          i assume you want the whole domain, maybe even exchange environment?

        • shaned on 23/01/2017 - 16:07

          @tonyjzx:

          To be frank, I have an understanding of how licensing works and costs under a business setup, just wanted to know the options out there for educational in addition to the 180 days trial based on the community's experience.

          I don't anticipate on becoming a network or systems engineer based on this, just wanted basic admin experience for my own piece of mind.

          So far this post has been educational and it's nice that people are sharing their thoughts.

          Thanks everyone.

    • shortblack9 on 24/01/2017 - 11:30

      What is to stop someone scripting this every 179 days? (please excuse the question, I am an amateur and have just discovered scripting things to automate stuff in Mac OSX).

  • trustnoone on 23/01/2017 - 14:22

    If you have a uni (or education account) you can also get it free https://imagine.microsoft.com/en-us/catalog

    • shaned on 23/01/2017 - 14:29

      Would this also be 180 days ?

      • trustnoone on 23/01/2017 - 15:02
        +1

        I can't say for sure, but I've had mine for over a year and a half legitimate with full updates, haven't needed to do anything. Pretty sure you get just get a free key from Microsoft as long as you have a participating education email account.

        At the very least it should last as long as your education email does (which for my uni is a lifetime lol).

  • iamnobody on 23/01/2017 - 14:35

    For a lab environment I high recommend you to use a virtualised platform rather than a physical machine.
    Not sure if you plan to create a domain controller and play with policies or if your intention is to play with the standalone server roles and features only but having a virtualised environment always makes easier to revert back to a previous snapshot and many other things.
    Anyway, this can go of topic as your question is about licensing but as other people said already you can use the evaluation and extend the license.
    Give a goal with powershell too if you like programming and automation.
    Have fun!

    • shaned on 23/01/2017 - 16:10

      Well I have the physical hardware so was keen to play with it.

      Have a server running and have a couple desktops running, one being connected directly through shared drives and the through RDP (admin)

  • Sergeant Salami on 23/01/2017 - 14:54
    +1

    I'm studying server 2012 r2 as well. Basically this is what I recommend. Install Windows 10 on your pc. Install Hyper V (part of windows). Inside there, setup a few virtual machines with Server 2012. Each time it expires, use that rearm command I told you and you'll get 180 days each time. This is legit as it is for evaluation purposes. You could also delete the VM and create a new one. You'll have to do this anyway as you'll need to setup server for different scenarios etc as part of the study. Feel free to PM if you need more help.

    • Clear on 23/01/2017 - 15:22
      +1

      Install Hyper-V regardless. I see and use it much more than any other these days ;)

  • shaned on 23/01/2017 - 16:08

    Will do, thanks !

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