This is the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 x86_64 HVM AMI that has been built with a base profile, suitable for use in HVM instance types only. The image contains just enough packages to run within AWS, bring up an RDP Server and allow users to login. Please note that this is the default Windows Server 2008 R2 image that we recommend everyone uses. It contains packages that are updated at points in time to include critical security updates.

Frontline maintains this AMI on a quarterly basis to provide essential updates. Frontline also updates the AMI on a quarterly basis to allow all usage for all supported instance types.

Amazon EC2 running Microsoft Windows Server is a fast and dependable environment for deploying applications using the Microsoft Web Platform. Amazon EC2 enables you to run any compatible Windows-based solution on AWS' high-performance, reliable, cost-effective, cloud computing platform. Common Windows use cases include Enterprise Windows-based application hosting, website and web-service hosting, data processing, media transcoding, distributed testing, ASP.NET application hosting, and any other application requiring Windows software.

Note: Microsoft ended support for Windows Server 2008 and 2008R2 on January 14th 2020. These images are no longer available from AWS Marketplace. Please review the end of support FAQ here: https://aws.amazon.com/windows/faq/#eos-microsoft-products