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We want to move to 2012 AD Activation for our network as we're slowly migrating to 2012 from mostly 2008 R2, but if we do, will the 2008/2008 R2 servers already in use/activated still need the KMS we currently have? &nbsp;I'd prefer not to have 2 activation servers, and i thought the KMS activated servers still need to check in every 30 days to stay activated. &nbsp;Can i remove the KMS server used by my 2008/2008 R2 servers and get away with it - and just worry about the AD Activation server for my new 2012 servers? &nbsp;or do i need to get the KMS server up and running with 2012 support? &nbsp;prefer to ditch KMS and go AD activation without worrying about the 2008 boxes if its possible. &nbsp;thanks.
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We want to move to 2012 AD Activation for our network as we're slowly migrating to 2012 from mostly 2008 R2, but if we do, will the 2008/2008 R2 servers already in use/activated still need the KMS we currently have?  I'd prefer not to have 2 activation servers, and i thought the KMS activated servers still need to check in every 30 days to stay activated.  Can i remove the KMS server used by my 2008/2008 R2 servers and get away with it - and just worry about the AD Activation server for my new 2012 servers?  or do i need to get the KMS server up and running with 2012 support?  prefer to ditch KMS and go AD activation without worrying about the 2008 boxes if its possible.  thanks.

Want 2012 AD Activation, will still need KMS for 2008/2008R2 servers already activated?

Windows Server 2012 is the server version of Windows 8 and the successor to Windows Server 2008 R2. Windows Server 2012 is the first version of Windows Server to have no support for Itanium-based computers since Windows NT 4.0. Windows Server 2012, now in its second release (Windows Server 2012 Release 2) includes Foundation, Essentials, Standard and Datacenter, and does not support IA-32 or IA-64 processors.

Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2, based on the Microsoft Vista codebase, is the last 32-bit server operating system released by Microsoft. It has a number of versions, including including Foundation, Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web, HPC Server, Itanium and Storage; new features included server core installation and Hyper-V.