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Xen is a little more forgiving in those situations
also it will be for Linux and BSD as well as windows 
@AnthonySmith 8MB or 12MB but not 2MB proof it.
@Infinity580
/# free -m total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 32 5 26 0 0 3 -/+ buffers/cache: 2 29 Swap: 0 0 0 Tasks: 7 total, 1 running, 6 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie Cpu(s): 0.2%us, 0.3%sy, 0.0%ni, 99.5%id, 0.0%wa, 0.0%hi, 0.0%si, 0.0%st Mem: 32768k total, 5952k used, 26816k free, 0k buffers Swap: 0k total, 0k used, 0k free, 3964k cached PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND 1 root 20 0 2028 732 636 S 0 2.2 0:00.01 init 2 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 kthreadd/1705 3 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 khelper/1705 4 root 20 0 27524 740 500 S 0 2.3 0:00.00 vzctl 5 root 20 0 2960 1616 1292 S 0 4.9 0:00.00 bash 337 root 20 0 1948 716 596 S 0 2.2 0:00.00 syslogd 365 root 20 0 2324 988 796 R 0 3.0 0:00.00 topOn an LES box I just throw up to prove it
Ah Used 5? i guess thats in MB
Windows 2008r2 and Windows 2012r2 will install and run on 512 Mb Ram, but there is no leg room to accomodate sudden application demands: performance could not be guaranteed. I specify at least 1024 Mb RAM on production servers, but I sometimes use 512 Mb for testing (with no heawy applications or IIS running).
According to my experience, Windows 2012R2 works better than 2008R2 on low memory configurations, with one small glitch. The Windows 2012R2 installer needs at least 900 Mb Ram to run. On a 512 Mb VPS, it may halt with a error message. To overcome this issue, simply press shift+F10 during boot. The Windows command line window opens. Now use the diskpart.exe command to create and format the install partition. Exit from diskpart and create a virtual memory swapfile with the following command: Wpeutil createpagefile /path=C:\pf.sys . You can now launch the Windows 2012r2 setup. This is a Microsoft approved procedure.
After the installation, memory and disk footprints could be lowered with simple configuration changes:
Reduce the virtual memory swapfile size to 512 Mb
disable system protection, because it eats significant disk space and increases disk and ram usage.
disabling most system services does not significantly lowers RAM usage. The exceptions are the Windows 2012/8.1 antimalware service, SuperFetch and Windows Search; it is best to disable them.
it is also best to disable scheduled tasks such as the default disk defrag job. This will avoid sudden RAM usage increases that may exhaust VPS resources.
To check if the VPS is experiencing excessive RAM memory pressure, use the perfmon.exe command. The Memory Pages Input/Sec counter average over a 1 hour period should be less than 10. Sum of Standby Cache Reserve Bytes and Free and Zero Page List Bytes should be 200 MB or more on systems with 1 GB. A little less than that is normal on 512 MB.
Microsoft official minimum disk requirements are 15 Gb for Windows 208R2 and 32 Gb for Windows 2012R2, but I found that 20 Gb is a more practical lower limit for both. The issue here is the disk space used by Windows update. The Windows disk compression feature will save a few Gb, at the expense of CPU usage. Don't forget that you need some space (say 5 Gb or so) for the user files.
To sum it up: a 512 Mb Ram / 25 Gb disk Windows Xen HVM VPS is totally possible and useful, but it needs to be carefully monitored and optimized, and it is not suited for general purpose applications. A careless Windows installation on such a limited resource will result in excessive disk swapping and unstable performance. Microsoft (on its own Azure cloud service) does provide at least 768 Mb RAM.
@pcan nice write up and good tips
also not to mention that it is a public facing windows server and there is no way that 512mb Ram leaves any room at all for antivirus/ real time security.
Personally I have found server 2012 R2 standard to be more resource 'friendly' than 2008.
I think most antivirus is designed for desktop?
Used 2 and cached 3, in MB.
It is, I've had serious issues with McAfee absolutely hammering the CPU when it does it's daily definitions update. We had to get our provider to put serious pressure on in order to get it patched, took about 6 months IIRC.
Antivirus for desktops should work fine on a server version of the OS but they restrict to use it for that most of the time (block installing.) they require "special" server licenses which ofcourse cost alot more money.
While the commercial market share might be dominated by desktops for AV/Security my personal opinion for any public facing server is that an additional security layer is required and that goes double for windows servers.
There's plenty of Windows server AV products.
@AnthonySmith: I agree that 512 Mb RAM are not enough to run a fully functional modern Windows version. 768 Mb are a more realistic lower limit for Windows; you can also attempt to run a web server or a Office 2003 application on 768 Mb and speed will be still productive (with simple documents). Too bad that 768 Mb plans are not common.
On a current generation virtualization hosts with plenty of physical RAM, saving 256 Mb on a Windows VPS does make little sense because the saved RAM will result in greatly increased disk activity, and disk is a more expensive bottleneck to overcome.
I suggest @anant to look at the Remote Desktop Services role of Windows 2012r2 and 2008r2 server (formerly called terminal server role). It may suit its requirements: multiple people can indipendently connect via RDP to the server and have individual desktops and preferences. To support 10 light users this way, a single 4-6 Gb VPS could be perfectly fine because users are sharing DLLs and the Windows kernel. When enabling the role on this trial scenario, select the "per user" licensing type. The Windows 2008R2 RDS role "grace period" will last for 120 days. Check on Google the procedure to reset the licensing counter, if needed.
I ran Windows on the Amazon EC2 free tier ~600MB with ~1GHz processor. Installed Office on it at aswell and it ran OK IIRC.
Try windows server core if you are running a web service, it is stripped as bare meta to run IIS and SQL server.
Crissic has 512mb KVMs for $4/ month. (http://lowendtalk.com/discussion/25435/kvm-openvz-native-ipv6-domains-ssl-crissic-solutions-llc). You may be able to work something out with @SkylarM with a bulk 10 vps order. PayPal fees alone would take $5 out if you ordered them all separately. I highly recommend Crissic.
Thanks. But they don't allow windows trial there. But you made a nice point, bulk order would save $5 PayPal fees for the providers. I wonder why they won't go for it.
I would recommend HeroicVps.com for bulk KVM, since they offer a resource based pricing and you can spilit them into custom vps, and you would have the power to change your mind anytime. They do make price-match on a regular basis, and the performance is top-notch.. so make a ticket with them and you could get a great deal.
Thanks! Always good to hear a recommendation.
I seem to have received two separate people/tickets regarding a 512 Windows VM for 1.75. I have answered both. I just want to be clear that HeroicVPS does not sell 512 VMs for $1.75 or lower for 'bulk' orders.
Though we do price match competitors and anyone is welcome to contact me regarding that.
I really do not recommend running Windows on 512(less virt overhed) for various reasons.
Also for clarification "price match" does not mean we will match the price you want. It is a match of competitors offers....
@Nekki Got the ones i needed, please close the thread.
Where did you get them?
Got a customized dedi deal. A friend helped me in creating those VPS.
On the HVM I have in Miami with Inception I stripped win2012R2 down to 300mb with GUI.
Then I added software to use.
I have other customers who we optimize their servers regarding disk and RAM, they have multiple 512mb RAM win2008 servers.
But then they only run one dedicated service.
If you are thinking of using the servers for RDP you probably need more then 512, even if it is possible.
I can offer ya $16/mo for 1gig ram (KVM) dedicated resources (ram/cpu) with 20gb disk apiece.
Excellent upstream connectivity, based in Atlanta. We normally do 1024mb for $20, but I can cut a deal for $16 if you'd like. Also, are you bringing the 2008 licenses? How long do you think you need them for? (Trial licenses are good for 6 months).
a $16/month with own license...damn expensive.
Sorry mate, you're about 228% too high for this forum,
. Best of luck though.