Windows server 2012 move license to another server

Question

I do not find on the internet somewhere where I can buy Windows Server 2012 Standard which is not OEM. I do not want to buy OEM because I fear hardware failure (CPU, hard disk, motherboard).

I am looking for a license other than volume licensing which permits me to move my license to another server if I experience :

• hardware failure
• hardware upgrade

Is the Windows Server 2012 Standard on the Microsoft Store an OEM version? Everywhere (Amazon, etc...), it's specified that it's an OEM version.

Or is there only OEM and Volume licensing?

Solution

The OEM licenses you are seeing on the internet are system builder licenses, and those could not be migrated on hardware failure.

The license you linked to is a retail version of Windows Server, and it is perfectly fine to remove that copy of Windows Server and install it on new hardware, as long as you uninstall the old copy. That is the license you are looking for, however, note that it costs roughly four times as much as an OEM license. IMHO, it would only be cost effective to get a retail copy if you expect your hardware to fail four times.