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I am having difficulty understanding the licensing restrictions regarding VMs on Windows 2012 Essentials. &nbsp;I need two servers, one to function solely as a domain controller and one to run a SQL server application and share files. &nbsp;The licensing info I read indicates that Essentials can be installed with the HyperV role and can support one virtual machine. &nbsp;Could the HyperV host function as my domain controller with the single VM functioning as my SQL server? &nbsp;Or do I need to use Windows 2012 Standard and set up two VMs?
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I am having difficulty understanding the licensing restrictions regarding VMs on Windows 2012 Essentials.  I need two servers, one to function solely as a domain controller and one to run a SQL server application and share files.  The licensing info I read indicates that Essentials can be installed with the HyperV role and can support one virtual machine.  Could the HyperV host function as my domain controller with the single VM functioning as my SQL server?  Or do I need to use Windows 2012 Standard and set up two VMs?

Licensing question re Windows 2012 Essentials

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

Virtualization is the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, including (but not limited to) a virtual computer hardware platform, operating system (OS), storage device, or computer network resources. Virtualization is usually the creation of a system that executes separate from the underlying hardware resources, or the creation of an entire desktop for systems located elsewhere, similar to thin clients.