Windows Server 2019 Essentials - Remove from Domain

[Reikalingas]

Hi,

I have a challenge... I have server with 64 cores and I bought Windows Server 2019 Essentials (WSE) to save money, because Standard Server license charge per core count, crazy money. I set the WSE server as File Serve so there is no reason why there should be limitation on user count, but because the server is connected to Domain it get the user list from DC and now I am exceeding 50 user limit. I am thinking to remove WSE server from domain and maybe that way solve the problem, I just don't know what will happen when I remove it from domain, because the regular PC when it get removed from domain, you can't access that user on that PC, can that happen on WSE server?

Thanks,

Roly

[Needfuldoer]

If you remove that server from the domain, you'll lose your centralized user authentication. You will have to create accounts for each individual user who plans on accessing resources on that server.

 

What else is the server doing besides serving files? (64 cores on just a file server is ridiculously overkill; with Windows Server Standard you could have two 16- or 32-core VMs.)

[NelizMastr]

Keep in mind there are other license foibles involved with Essentials, much like the SBS product that preceded it.

 

Should've just bought standard instead and conform to the Microsoft licensing scheme. What do you need 64 cores for anyway?

Surely it's going to be a hypervisor as there's no use for a bare metal 64-core server.

[wseaton]

{Scratches head}

 

2019 Essentials doesn't need to hold the FSMO roles as per other older versions of Essentials that didn't tolerate other DCs being on their domain.

 

If this is true, pulling it from the Domain shouldn't cause account issues. Unless it IS the primary DC, in which case you can't remove it.