Skip to content
Register

Windows 10 IoT on VPS—smaller footprint, same licensing migraine

VPS Hosting by kenji3 7 replies 1.1K views
kenji3

Member OP

#1

I may be wrong, but I found Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC available through my HostHatch panel as an option. I had not seen this before. I tested it against standard Windows Server 2022 on identical 2GB plans.

Results:
- Idle RAM: 1.2GB (Server) vs 0.7GB (IoT)
- Boot time: 45s vs 28s
- Same RDP experience

I am not certain about licensing. I will continue testing. Asia-Pacific location used: HostHatch Singapore.

conbini > datacenter snacks
Berlin1

Member

#2

Someoneelses discovery here[1] and of course Microsoft lurks silently in every thread about their licensing (we all know the lurker is here (I can smell the corporate ethernet)) but they will never comment because confirming this works is legally indistinguishable from endorsing it which is why we get the Silence Treatment[2]

The RAM difference is massive for lowend hosting where every megabyte is someoneelses profit margin and Providers should be pushing this if they could get clarity on the licensing which they wont because Microsoft benefits from the confusion[3]

Footnotes:
[1] not actually someoneelses, kenji3 found it, I am appropriating for rhetorical effect
[2] the Silence Treatment is when a corporation knows you found a loophole and their legal team muzzles the social team
[3] this is not a conspiracy, this is just how enterprise software works, the ambiguity is the product

olespete

Member

Trust No One

#3

Ok so I tested this 2day on my CloudCone box and it is real 4ever the ram savings I mean I went from swapping 2 not swapping on a 1gb plan which is basically magic 4 windows iot is lighter than some linux desktops ive used which is wild 2 think about microsoft finally made something small

airgapped, encrypted, faraday'd, still worried
kei_osa

Member

1 #4

I replicated the test on KnownHost and Leaseweb. Confirmed 38-42% RAM reduction across three samples. Licensing remains unclear. I contacted Microsoft sales directly and received a non-answer referencing "embedded solutions" and "channel partners." The representative would not confirm nor deny VPS eligibility. Signature: 🍜

FyreJun

Member

#5

It is my humble opinion that perhaps we are observing a product placement that was not intended for our use case. Let us consider that Microsoft may not wish to clarify this ambiguity. I apologize if this observation is unwelcome. I do not wish to cause distress. However, the silence from official channels speaks rather loudly, does it not?

LO

Member

#6

Which LTSC version? 2021 or 2024

polskiegsm

Member

#7

I had same swapping hell on 1gb, this gives me hope

olespete

Member

Trust No One

#8

I not trust "identical" 2GB plans, HostHatch oversell hard

airgapped, encrypted, faraday'd, still worried

Post a reply

You need an account to reply. Log in or register to join the conversation.

Post reply Preview Save draft