--- title: MCC prerequisites description: Details of prerequisites and recommendations for using Microsoft Connected Cache for Enterprise and Education (MCC). ms.service: windows-client ms.subservice: itpro-updates ms.topic: conceptual ms.author: lichris author: chrisjlin manager: naengler appliesto: - ✅ Windows 11 - ✅ Microsoft Connected Cache for Enterprise and Education ms.date: 09/27/2024 --- # Microsoft Connected Cache for Enterprise and Education Requirements This article details the requirements and recommendations for using Microsoft Connected Cache for Enterprise and Education (MCC). ## Licensing requirements - **Valid Azure subscription**: To use the Microsoft Connected Cache for Enterprise and Education (MCC) service, you'll need a valid Azure subscription that can be used to provision the necessary [Azure resources](/azure/cloud-adoption-framework/govern/resource-consistency/resource-access-management). If you don't have an Azure subscription already, you can create an Azure [pay-as-you-go](https://azure.microsoft.com/offers/ms-azr-0003p/) account, which requires a credit card for verification purposes. For more information, see the [Azure Free Account FAQ](https://azure.microsoft.com/free/free-account-faq/). The Azure resources used for MCC will be free to you during this public preview. - **E3/E5 or A3/A5 license**: Your organization must have one of the following license subscriptions for each device that downloads content from an MCC cache node. - [Windows Enterprise E3 or E5](/windows/whats-new/windows-licensing#windows-11-enterprise), included in [Microsoft 365 F3, E3, or E5](https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/enterprise/microsoft365-plans-and-pricing?msockid=32c407b43d5968050f2b13443c746916) - Windows Education A3 or A5, included in [Microsoft 365 A3 or A5](https://www.microsoft.com/education/products/microsoft-365?msockid=32c407b43d5968050f2b13443c746916#Education-plans) ## Cache node host machine requirements ### General requirements - Any previous installations of MCC must be [uninstalled](mcc-ent-uninstall-cache-node.md) before installing the latest version of MCC. - [These listed endpoints](delivery-optimization-endpoints.md) must be reachable by the host machine. - The host machine must have no other services / applications utilizing port 80 (for example, ConfigManager or Distribution Point). - The host machine must have at least 4 GB of free memory. ### Additional requirements for Windows host machines - The Windows host machine must be using Windows 11 or Windows Server 2022 with the Latest Cumulative Update (LCU) applied. - Windows 11 must have [OS Build 22631.3296](https://support.microsoft.com/topic/march-12-2024-kb5035853-os-builds-22621-3296-and-22631-3296-a69ac07f-e893-4d16-bbe1-554b7d9dd39b) or later - Windows Server 2022 must have [OS Build 20348.2227](https://support.microsoft.com/topic/january-9-2024-kb5034129-os-build-20348-2227-6958a36f-efaf-4ef5-a576-c5931072a89a) or later - The Windows host machine must support nested virtualization. - The Windows host machine must have [WSL2 installed](/windows/wsl/install#install-wsl-command). ### Additional requirements for Linux host machines - The Linux host machine must be using one of the following Operating Systems: - Ubuntu 20.04 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8.* or 9.* - If using RHEL, the default container engine (Podman) must be replaced with [Moby](https://github.com/moby/moby#readme) ### Networking recommendations for host machines - Multiple network interface cards (NICs) on a single MCC instance aren't supported. - 1 Gbps NIC is the minimum speed recommended but any NIC is supported. - The NIC and BIOS should support SR-IOV for best performance. ### Host machine sizing recommendations | Component | Branch Office / Small Enterprise | Large Enterprise | | --- | --- | --- | | OS| Windows Server 2022
Windows 11 (Pro or Enterprise) | Same | |NIC | 1 Gbps | 5 Gbps | |Disk | SSD
1 drive
50 GB each |SSD
1 drive
200 GB each | |Memory | 4 GB | 8 GB | |Cores | 4 | 8 |