I have an AWS EC2 instance running Windows Server 2012 R2 that I am able to maintain in either a T2 Medium or C4 Large state, depending on the load, or if I'm doing any development on the machine.
I am contemplating upgrading to Windows Server 2016 so I can use Docker containers.
Will this require more system resources (memory and CPU) than 2012 R2?
Best Answer
The optimal Windows environment for Docker containers is Nano Server.
Read about it here.
In the case of Nano Server, it has a drastically smaller footprint than Server 2012 R2 in any configuration, in terms of RAM and storage space.
Server 2016 does not, in general, require noticeably more RAM or storage space than Server 2012 R2 does. Especially in a Server Core configuration (without the GUI.)
However we're just talking about the base operating system. Once you start installing stuff and spinning up containers we have no idea how much additional memory you'll use.
Here are the minimum requirements for Server 2016 (512MB of RAM for Core, 2GB recommended if you want the GUI.)
Here are the minimum requirements for Server 2012 R2 (Same 512MB minimum.)