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Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Blog
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Defending Windows Server 2012 R2 and 2016

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Paul_Huijbregts
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Oct 07, 2021
Update: The modern, unified Microsoft Defender for Endpoint solution for Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2016 is now generally available as of April 11th, 2022.   Ensure you apply the l...
Updated Oct 08, 2022
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Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Blog

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint disrupts ransomware with industry-leading endpoint security, providing comprehensive protection across all platforms and devices.

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Paul_Huijbregts
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Dec 04, 2021

Hi mohan_infosec, 

 

1 & 3: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (for servers) is not just EDR, see Microsoft Defender for Endpoint | Microsoft Security for an overview. The unified solution replaces the previous one, no longer uses a log analytics workspace or the agent for it (regardless of how you onboard), and, adds Windows Defender Antivirus as well as EDR to Windows Server 2012 R2. On Windows Server 2016 Defender AV is already built in and it only installs the EDR sensor; on Windows Server 2019 and later both are built in.

 

2 & 4: There are two ways to get Microsoft Defender for Endpoint functionality for your servers and to make it super clear they each have a pay and onboard step that are tied together. One is through an Azure subscription (pay) and Microsoft Defender for Cloud (onboard); the other is through purchasing (pay) a specific subscription license in your license agreement and by onboarding (onboard) directly to security.microsoft.com. 

 

1. Using the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint license included with Microsoft Defender for Cloud | Microsoft Docs - Microsoft Defender for Cloud includes a Microsoft Defender for Endpoint license for your servers (and much more functionality on top of this!!!). Billing is performed pay-as-you-go through your Azure subscription (pay), onboarding is performed using Microsoft Defender for Cloud (onboard) and it does use a log analytics workspace even if this is not used by the agent (note that the topic of this blog, the preview, is not yet integrated into Microsoft Defender for Cloud). 

 

2. There is also a Microsoft Defender for Endpoint - server standalone license (1 license per server). This is what is required to onboard servers directly to your Microsoft Defender for Endpoint environment (security.microsoft.com, onboard) without going through Microsoft Defender for Cloud. These licenses should be purchased (pay) through a licensing agreement, please reach out to your Microsoft rep.