Hyper-V

Among the considerations are that Hyper-V allows you to run multiple Windows Server virtual machines on a single physical machine and that the Hyper-V virtual machine operates the same way whether you deploy it locally or to the Microsoft Azure cloud.  This translates into reduced costs by consolidating more workloads on fewer servers and an increase in agility by using the same virtualization platform for both on-premise and cloud deployments.

Presently, you would start with Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard Edition operating system license for, say, a physical server machine.  A practical application would have a domain controller, file, and print server on one virtualized machine; an application or database server on a second virtual machine.

Windows Server 2012 R2 captures Microsoft’s experience of delivering global-scale cloud services to provide an enterprise-class server and cloud platform. It lets you optimize performance for your most important workloads and helps to protect against service outages with robust recovery options. It reduces complexity and cost with comprehensive automation plus storage and networking virtualization solutions based on industry-standard hardware. It lets you build, run, and scale applications that can move between your datacenter and the cloud, and allows you to provide your users with flexible remote access from virtually anywhere and any device while helping to protect corporate information.