Is Error Correcting Code (ECC) Memory Actually a Hard Minimum Requirement for Installation of Windows Server 2016?

  • Thread starter William A. Roper Jr
  • Start date
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William A. Roper Jr

The published system requirements for installation of Windows Server 2016 seem to specify that the hardware include Error Correcting Code (ECC) memory:

"The following are the estimated RAM requirements for this product:

Minimum:

  • 512 MB (2 GB for Server with Desktop Experience installation option)
  • ECC (Error Correcting Code) type or similar technology"

Source: "Windows Server 2016 System Requirements"

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While I have little doubt that it would be better to have ECC memory in server hardware in almost any production environment, my short term goal is to download and install an evaluation version of Windows Server 2016 for the purposes of improving my working understanding of Windows Server 2016 and to prepare to be helpful in migrations to Windows Server 2016 by clients.

My preference then would be to install a dual boot partition on my laptop so that I could have the Windows Server 2016 environment readily available for further study, evaluation, testing and practice when I travel, etc. I am also somewhat overdue to a laptop upgrade, so I was also assessing laptop hardware through the prism of things I wanted to do with the next laptop in the future.

It is axiomatic that most laptops are not designed to use Error Correcting Code (ECC) memory.

My question then is whether the specification of ECC memory is actually a "hard requirement" for a Windows Server 2016 installation or whether Windows Server 2016 will otherwise install on a laptop which is otherwise compliant, but lacks ECC? Will the absence of ECC simply result in less fault tolerance of server memory errors or will Windows Server 2016 not work at all?

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By way of reference, I want to recognize a prior response to a more general question about systems requirements ("what are the minimum requirement for install windows server 2016 on my laptop," July 1, 2016) by Moderator Alvin Wang:

I have also seen some general discussion regarding installation of Windows Server 2016 on laptops without anyone expressly posing or discussing the issue of ECC.

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