Looking for:
Windows Server Licensing Guide
This translates to you needing to purchase a minimum of 8x two-core packs for every two physical processors in your server. This is the equivalent of a regular standard Windows Server R2 license. If you have more than 8 cores per processor, then all you do is purchase 1x two-core license pack for every two cores past the 16 minimum.
Example: You have a server with two processors. Each processor has 10 cores. You have 20 cores total. You purchase the minimum 8x two-core packs, which covers 16 of your cores.
You need to purchase an additional 2x two-core license packs to cover the extra 4 cores you have. Question: So what if my server has two processors, but each processor only has 6 cores each?
You would still need to purchase the minimum 8x two-core packs , licensing you for a total of 16 cores, even though you only have 12 total cores. Then you would need to purchase twice the minimum… 16x two-core license packs. Then you buy 1x two-core license pack for every two cores you have after the minimum combined cores.
Virtualization rights with Windows Server Standard are, relatively speaking, the same as they are with Windows Server R2 Standard. Note 1: As a general rule, you should never or rarely install the Standard edition of Windows Server on a physical server if you are using it as a Hyper-V host.
You can run two virtual machines for every 8x two-core license packs you purchase. You can have any unlimited number of Linux VMs running on any version of Windows, providing your hardware can handle the load. The exact cutoff is 14 virtual machines, but because each minimum 8x two-core license packs license gives you 2 VMs, 13 is the same cost as Purchasing 7 Standard edition licenses to run 13 virtual machines on a single host costs the same amount of money as a Datacenter edition license.
Note 3: Datacenter edition has features that Standard edition does not, such as Storage Spaces Direct and Storage Replica… among quite a few others. You can lower the number of physical node licensing by preventing VMs from running on specific nodes.
Failover Cluster Manager — Possible Owners setting. If you purchased SA with your server license, you have some additional interesting benefits. Licensing can and does change! This means that in anticipation of a fail-over event, you may run passive fail-over on another qualifying shared server NODE2. Microsoft Volume Licensing direct.
Windows Server Licensing: Windows Server. In my example, I have a server with 4 physical CPUs of 16 cores each for a total of 64 physical cores. Would I need 32 2-core licenses for this server? Yes, you need a 16core datacenter license for each host for unlimited vms. I have two question. So if we have 2 VMs on a 1 proc, 4 core server, 16 core needs to be purchased 3 times. Is this correct? NO CAL. Each time you cover all your cores with a Standard license or meet the core minimum you have permission to spin up an additional two VMs.
But if you license your server for the Datacenter version, you can run an unlimited number of VMs, which raises the question: At what point is it cheaper to buy Datacenter rather than purchase multiple sets of Standard licenses?
The answer is 13 VMs. If you need to run 13 or more VMs on your host, then you should purchase Datacenter licenses. If you need 12 or less, then it is cheaper to buy Standard licenses. For further details, you can contact a Microsoft partner on your country or Microsoft directly. Expecting you get discounted licensing as is already out. Disclaimer: This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties or guarantees, and confers no rights.
Thanks a lot for the detailed answer! I’m only going to use a single PC, with 4 processors and 8GB ram. Thanks for the info! This can more economical option but may tie you up with future expansions if any. Else Standard edition and your calculation are almost right.. Hoping your MS account manager to give you more discounts. I would indeed, I even tried to just have a single processor with 4 cores, but it’s a no go. Windows Server licensing guide. Windows Server licensing datasheet.
Azure Hybrid Benefit. Introduction to Microsoft Core licensing. Licensing Windows Server for use with virtualization technologies. Windows Server Windows Server is the operating system that bridges on-premises environments with Azure, adding additional layers of security while helping you modernize your applications and infrastructure.
Windows Server site. About Windows Server. Windows Server is the operating system that bridges on-premises environments with Azure services, enabling hybrid scenarios that maximize existing investments. Increase security and reduce business risk with multiple layers of protection built into the operating system.
Evolve your datacenter infrastructure to achieve greater efficiency and scale with Hyper-converged Infrastructure. Enable developers and IT pros to create cloud native applications and modernize their traditional apps using containers and micro-services. Choose from three primary editions of Windows Server, based on the size of your organization as well as virtualization and datacenter requirements:. Datacenter edition is ideal for highly virtualized and software-defined datacenter environments.
Standard edition is ideal for customers with low density or non-virtualized environments. Essentials edition is a cloud-connected first server, ideal for small businesses with up to 25 users and 50 devices. Essentials is a good option for customers currently using the Foundation edition, which has been discontinued. Essentials edition is licensed under the Specialty Servers license model and does not require Windows Server CALs to access the server.
Pricing To give you a more consistent licensing experience across multi-cloud environments, we transitioned from processor-based licensing to core-based licensing for Windows Server Datacenter and Standard editions.
Compare Features View the new hybrid, security, infrastructure, and application platform features of Windows Server as compared to previous versions.
Microsoft Windows Server | Microsoft Licensing Resources
Windows Server licensing is licensed per-core. Because processors always have an even number of cores, licenses are sold in two-core packs. To run Windows Server , you need to purchase licenses for a minimum of 16 cores, per two physical processors.
This translates to you needing to purchase a minimum of 8x two-core packs for every two physical processors in your server. This is the equivalent of a regular standard Windows Server R2 license. If you have more than 8 cores per processor, then all you do is purchase 1x two-core license pack for every two cores past the 16 minimum.
Example: You have a server with two processors. Each processor has 10 cores. You have 20 cores total. You purchase the minimum 8x two-core packs, which covers 16 of your cores. You need to purchase an additional 2x two-core license packs to cover the extra 4 cores you have.
Question: So what if my server has two processors, but each processor only has 6 cores each? You would still need to purchase the minimum 8x two-core packs , licensing you for a total of 16 cores, even though you only have 12 total cores. Then you would need to purchase twice the minimum… 16x two-core license packs.
Then you buy 1x two-core license pack for every two cores you have after the minimum combined cores. Virtualization rights with Windows Server Standard are, relatively speaking, the same as they are with Windows Server R2 Standard. Note 1: As a general rule, you should never or rarely install the Standard edition of Windows Server on a physical server if you are using it as a Hyper-V host.
You can run two virtual machines for every 8x two-core license packs you purchase. You can have any unlimited number of Linux VMs running on any version of Windows, providing your hardware can handle the load.
The exact cutoff is 14 virtual machines, but because each minimum 8x two-core license packs license gives you 2 VMs, 13 is the same cost as Purchasing 7 Standard edition licenses to run 13 virtual machines on a single host costs the same amount of money as a Datacenter edition license. Note 3: Datacenter edition has features that Standard edition does not, such as Storage Spaces Direct and Storage Replica… among quite a few others.
You can lower the number of physical node licensing by preventing VMs from running on specific nodes. Failover Cluster Manager — Possible Owners setting. If you purchased SA with your server license, you have some additional interesting benefits.
Licensing can and does change! This means that in anticipation of a fail-over event, you may run passive fail-over on another qualifying shared server NODE2. Microsoft Volume Licensing direct. Windows Server Licensing: Windows Server. In my example, I have a server with 4 physical CPUs of 16 cores each for a total of 64 physical cores.
Would I need 32 2-core licenses for this server? Yes, you need a 16core datacenter license for each host for unlimited vms. I have two question. So if we have 2 VMs on a 1 proc, 4 core server, 16 core needs to be purchased 3 times. Is this correct? Secondly, for enterprise, does the above logic holds true? What about if I have 16 VMs on the same configuration? I have to purchase 16 x 16 cores per server.
You need to license a minimum of 16 cores per server, period. If the host is doing other stuff as well, like file server, AD, etc. For every two VMs you have running on Standard edition, you need to license a minimum of 16 cores. After about 13 VMs, Enterprise edition makes sense.
What do you think? If all your windows servers are licensed as you say, then you do no need to build a new cluster for SQL, there is no relationship between the licensing. You need to purchase enough 2-core packs to cover all of your CPU cores, and must license a minimum of 8 cores per CPU.
This means that in a server that has two CPUs, you must license a minimum of 16 cores, meaning you need to purchase at least 8 2-core license packs. This comes out to about the same price as prior Windows Server licensing. Now in your situation, you have more than 16 total cores, but something seems to be off here. Is that 22 cores for each CPU? Was it supposed to be 2x core CPUs for a total of 20 cores? So i have 2 extra core license, now questions are: 1 Should I use my windows standard edition product key to activate 2 windows server VMs same key for both VMS?
Linux VMs do not need Microsoft Windows licenses. Windows VMs and Windows hosts do, however. If your physical servers nodes are running Windows Server, the hardware needs licensed. If your physical servers hosts are running Hyper-V Server not Windows Server , then they do not need licensed. Yes, you can in fact add the Failover Cluster feature to the free Hyper-V Server , and add it to your cluster. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and site URL in my browser for next time I post a comment.
I feel there has been a lot of unnecessary confusion around Windows Server licensing. My goal with this post is to alleviate this confusion by showing you how simple it actually is. Hernan 11 February, at Scott 5 March, at Prasenjeet 18 December, at Hi, I have two question. I have to purchase 16 x 16 cores per server Reply. Timothy Gruber 19 December, at Dani 13 December, at Hi Timothy, congrats to your blog.
BR, Dani Reply. Jun 19 November, at Questions: 1 do I have enough license for these 2 VMs? Thank you -jun Reply. Timothy Gruber 19 November, at GEM 30 November, at Chad Miller 6 February, at Timothy Gruber 8 February, at And if you have docs for confirmation please send Reply.
Timothy Gruber 24 July, at Jacob 5 January, at Timothy Gruber 18 January, at Emil 29 May, at Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We’ll assume you’re ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website.
Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website.
We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary Necessary. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information. Non-necessary Non-necessary. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies.
It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Licensing Documents.Microsoft SQL Server | Microsoft Licensing Resources
Windows Server licensing datasheet. Azure Hybrid Benefit. Introduction to Microsoft Core licensing. Licensing Windows Server for use with virtualization technologies. Windows Server Windows Server is the operating system that bridges on-premises environments with Azure, adding additional layers of security while helping you modernize your applications and infrastructure. Windows Server site. About Windows Server. Windows Server is the operating system that bridges on-premises environments with Azure services, enabling hybrid scenarios that maximize existing investments.
Increase security and reduce business risk with multiple layers of protection built into the operating system. Evolve your datacenter infrastructure to achieve greater efficiency and scale with Hyper-converged Infrastructure. Enable developers and IT pros to create cloud native applications and modernize their traditional apps using containers and micro-services. Choose from three primary editions of Windows Server, based on the size of your organization as well as virtualization and datacenter requirements:.
Datacenter edition is ideal for highly virtualized and software-defined datacenter environments. Standard edition is ideal for customers with low density or non-virtualized environments. Essentials edition is a cloud-connected first server, ideal for small businesses with up to 25 users and 50 devices. Essentials is a good option for customers currently using the Foundation edition, which has been discontinued.
Essentials edition is licensed under the Specialty Servers license model and does not require Windows Server CALs to access the server. Pricing To give you a more consistent licensing experience across multi-cloud environments, we transitioned from processor-based licensing to core-based licensing for Windows Server Datacenter and Standard editions. Compare Features View the new hybrid, security, infrastructure, and application platform features of Windows Server as compared to previous versions.
Licensing Guide Use this guide to improve your understanding of how to license Microsoft Windows Server. Because processors always have an even number of cores, licenses are sold in two-core packs. To run Windows Server , you need to purchase licenses for a minimum of 16 cores, per two physical processors.
This translates to you needing to purchase a minimum of 8x two-core packs for every two physical processors in your server. This is the equivalent of a regular standard Windows Server R2 license.
If you have more than 8 cores per processor, then all you do is purchase 1x two-core license pack for every two cores past the 16 minimum. Example: You have a server with two processors. Each processor has 10 cores. You have 20 cores total.
You purchase the minimum 8x two-core packs, which covers 16 of your cores. You need to purchase an additional 2x two-core license packs to cover the extra 4 cores you have.
Question: So what if my server has two processors, but each processor only has 6 cores each? You would still need to purchase the minimum 8x two-core packs , licensing you for a total of 16 cores, even though you only have 12 total cores. Then you would need to purchase twice the minimum… 16x two-core license packs. Then you buy 1x two-core license pack for every two cores you have after the minimum combined cores. Virtualization rights with Windows Server Standard are, relatively speaking, the same as they are with Windows Server R2 Standard.
Note 1: As a general rule, you should never or rarely install the Standard edition of Windows Server on a physical server if you are using it as a Hyper-V host. You can run two virtual machines for every 8x two-core license packs you purchase. You can have any unlimited number of Linux VMs running on any version of Windows, providing your hardware can handle the load.
The exact cutoff is 14 virtual machines, but because each minimum 8x two-core license packs license gives you 2 VMs, 13 is the same cost as Purchasing 7 Standard edition licenses to run 13 virtual machines on a single host costs the same amount of money as a Datacenter edition license.
Note 3: Datacenter edition has features that Standard edition does not, such as Storage Spaces Direct and Storage Replica… among quite a few others. You can lower the number of physical node licensing by preventing VMs from running on specific nodes. Failover Cluster Manager — Possible Owners setting. If you purchased SA with your server license, you have some additional interesting benefits. Licensing can and does change!
This means that in anticipation of a fail-over event, you may run passive fail-over on another qualifying shared server NODE2. Microsoft Volume Licensing direct. Windows Server Licensing: Windows Server. In my example, I have a server with 4 physical CPUs of 16 cores each for a total of 64 physical cores. Would I need 32 2-core licenses for this server? Yes, you need a 16core datacenter license for each host for unlimited vms.
I have two question. SQL Server Offerings SQL Server is offered in two main editions to accommodate the unique feature, performance and price requirements of organizations and individuals: Enterprise Edition is ideal for applications requiring mission critical in-memory performance, security and high availability. Customers who require a massively parallel processing data warehouse have access to a parallel data warehouse through their Enterprise Edition core licenses with Software Assurance.
Parallel data warehouse is part of the Microsoft Analytics Platform System. Editions sold in the per-core licensing model and Big Data Nodes are sold as 2 core packs.
See the Product Terms for details. Expand all Collapse all. What is new in SQL Server ? Which product editions are offered with SQL Server?
Enterprise for mission-critical applications and data warehousing Standard for core database capabilities, reporting, and analytics. Which other editions are available with SQL Server? Which virtualization or cloud-related licensing benefits are available with SQL Server? License for high VM density by buying Enterprise Edition core licenses and Software Assurance for all the physical cores on the server or server farm and deploying an unlimited number of VMs on the licensed hardware.
License for VM mobility across private and public clouds. VM license mobility is a Software Assurance benefit.