So a few weeks back I said that SQL Server 2008 R2 would have a new edition, with a new edition comes a revamp in the overall licensing
Couple of basic points before we begin, as a few emails have come through on this and a little bit of confusion
Note 1: SQL Server Standard and Enterprise 2008 R2 can be licensed in either Server/CAL mode or Per Processor mode your choice
Note 2: SQL Server Datacenter is offered in Per Processor mode only
I know that sometimes its easy to confuse license rights for the different modes, so let me cover that below, by mode/edition, then next post will concentrate on migration/transition for SA customers and next steps…..
In a nutshell
SQL Server 2008 R2 Datacenter is licensed Per Proc only, count and license all the physical procs in box = unlimited number of running instance of SQL Datacentre in any number of OS environments = unlimited virtualization, you also have the ability to move these instances in accordance with Server Application Mobility rights – discussed in a previous blog post and you can run Standard or Enterprise in place of DC in any OSE
SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise is licensed Per Proc or Per Server/CALs, Server Application Mobility Rights exist and are outlined in the PUR, you can run an instance of Standard in place of Enteprise in any of the OSEs – Yippeeeee!!!
SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard is licensed Per Proc or Per Server/CALs, currently no Server Application Mobility Rights
Now to the official – Info from the PUR below
Datacenter
SQL Server 2008 R2 Datacenter– Licensed in Per Processor Mode – License ALL Physical Procs
You must count and license all of the physical processors
You may run the server software in one physical and any number of virtual operating system environments without regard to the number of physical and virtual processors used.
You may run on the licensed server instances of Enterprise or Standard in place of Datacenter in any of the operating system environments.
Enterprise
SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise – Licensed in Per Processor Mode – 2 choices on counting licenses
Option 1:
If you license all of the physical processors on the licensed server
You may run any number of instances in up to four operating systems environments for each Enterprise license you assign to the server.
You may run on the licensed server instances of Standard in place of Enterprise in any of these operating system environments
Option 2
If you don’t want to license all the physical procs in the box, you can license on procs used, as below, to provide you proc count for Enterprise edition, remember for Standard or WG or Small business your only option is “procs used”
Under this option, the total number of software licenses required for a server equals the sum of the software licenses required under (A) and (B) below.
(A) To run instances of the server software in the physical operating system environment on a server, you need a software license for each physical processor that the physical operating system environment uses.
(B) To run instances of the server software in virtual operating system environments on a server, you need a software license for each virtual processor1 that each of those virtual operating system environments uses. If a virtual operating system environment uses a fraction of a virtual processor, the fraction counts as a full virtual processor.
I covered a long time ago the counting process for SQL, this info is now in the April PUR, as below
A virtual processor is a processor in a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system.
Virtual operating system environments use virtual processors.
Solely for licensing purposes, a virtual processor is considered to have the same number of threads and cores as each physical processor on the underlying physical hardware system. So, for any given virtual operating system environment on a server on which each physical processor provides X logical processors, the number of licenses required is the sum of a) and b) below:
a) one license for every X logical processors that virtual operating system environment uses
b) one license if the number of logical processors it uses is not a whole number multiple of X
“X,” as used above, equals the number of cores, or where relevant, the number of threads in each physical processor.
SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise – Licensed in Server/CAL Mode
You have the following right for each server to which you assign a software license.
You may run, at any one time, any number of instances of the server software in up to four operating system environments (physical or virtual) on that server.
You may run on the licensed server an instance of Standard in place of Enterprise in any of these operating system environments.
Standard
SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard – Licensed in Per Proc Mode – Based on Procs used as above
You may run, at any one time, any number of instances of the server software in physical and virtual operating system environments on the licensed server.
However, the total number of physical and virtual processors used by those operating system environments cannot exceed the number of software licenses assigned to that server
SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard or Workgroup – Licensed in Server/CAL Mode
For each server software license you assign, you may run any number of instances of the server software in one physical or virtual operating system environment on the licensed server at a time.
Don’t forget, Fail-over rights still exist and have been extended from 2000 to now include Small Business, Workgroup and Standard
Enterprise has had fail-over rights for a long time
For SQL Server 2008 Small Business*, SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise, SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard* and SQL Server 2008 R2 Workgroup*:
Fail-over Rights. For any operating system environment in which you run instances of the server software, you may run up to the same number of passive fail-over instances in a separate operating system environment for temporary support. You may run the passive fail-over instances on a server other than the licensed server.
Note: SQL Datacentre is only available for servers with two or more processors, Customers may not run instances of the server software on a server with less than two processors
Note: You may not enroll more than 25 instances of any version or edition of SQL Server software with the Control Point Utility in the server software at any one time
MS Licensing in Depth! 
2 questions for you. :)can i run any number of instances/licensed server of sql server 2008 (not r2) if a license sql server in server/cal mode?and second,Do the fail-over rights cover this: 1 server license running sql 2008 (original & r2) and separate physical server running same sql version/edition just waiting for the first server to crash? 2 sql server running, 1 active, 1 passive, and only 1 server licence.thanks
If you assign SQL Server 2008 EE licenses in Server/CAL mode then yes, any number of instances of SQL EE in any number of virtual environments AND 1 physical environment, dont forget your CALs :-)SQL Std in Server/CAL would be any number of SQL Std instances in 1 physical OR 1 Virtual environmentFailover rights are granted to cover Active/Passive only, keep in mind, in proc mode, both servers need to have the same number of procs, more procs in the passive server = more licenses to cover – We have a very good brief, http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/e/6/1e68f92c-f334-4517-b610-e4dee946ef91/2008%20SQL%20Licensing%20Overview%20final.docxCheersEmma
Reading that word document i understand that failover-rights do not specify what license the active server must have. It only says that the cpu count on passive server <= cpu count active server.What about sql 2005? where can i find this kind of info ?thanks.
Hi Emma, Can I confirm there is no changes to the CAL\’s requirement? I heard a horrible rumour that SQL 2008 R2 would require specific R2 CAL\’s, which goes against the grain of CAL\’s not being version specific.
Hi Mark, If you read the SQL R2 license guide a PDF file you can download on http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/licensing.aspx then you can read under server/cal NOTE:SQL Server 2008 R2 CALs (or SQL Server 2008 CALs with SA) are required.So yes the "rumour" are right and you have to buy a SQL 2008 R2 CAL if you not have SA on your SQL 2008 CALSRegardsLars
I have heard that customers who make a new purchase of Ent. Ed. with SA get unlimited virtualisation rights.Is this correct and if so why would someone buy Datacenter when it is so much more expensive?
@Rohan. TThe new license for SQL R2 remove the license rull on new SQL enterprise ED as you now only have 4 virtualisation rights on SQL Enterprise ed. it is the new CPU datacenter you have to get now to get unlimited virtualisation rights. But people how did buy SQL enterprise license with SA before 1 maj was granted unlimited virtualisation rights on SQL enterprise license on SQL R2
Lars, thank you for the response, I understand and agree with what you say, but don\’t think you read my post correctly. I said \’a new puchase\’. I have seen a Microsoft delivered powerpoint deck saying that new (L&SA for EE) purchases, (i.e. after the 1st May) also attact the unlimited use rights. I can only guess that it\’s either incorrect or there is a great difference in the software functionality between Ent/DC.
Hi Rohan. I think it is a incorrect power point deck as I am 100% sure that new puchase of a SQL CPU Enterprise license only give you 4 virtualisation rights now and you have to buy the new SQL datacenter SQL CPU license to get the unlimited virtualisation rights. See also the PUR for SQL enterprise: http://www.microsoftvolumelicensing.com/userights/ProductPage.aspx?pid=324(Running instances of the server software. If you assign software licenses equal to the total number of physical processors on the server, you may run the server software in only up to four operating system environments on the server for each license assigned without regard to the number of physical and virtual processors used. You may run on the licensed server instances of Standard in place of Enterprise in any of these operating system environments)PUR for the SQL Datacenter http://www.microsoftvolumelicensing.com/userights/ProductPage.aspx?pid=439(Running instances of the server software. You may run the server software in one physical and any number of virtual operating system environments without regard to the number of physical and virtual processors used. You may run on the licensed server instances of Enterprise or Standard in place of Datacenter in any of the operating system environments)
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Hi Emma – I just came across this link and blog and think it is great. I just completed an indepth analysis of our SQL installs and learned a great deal through the PUR and the SQL Server Licensing Guide dated June 17,2009. I found some information in the section that covers the counting of Licenses for VM\’s (per processor licensing) that I didn\’t see in your entry. Beginning with Diagram 4.5 in the licensing guide they clarify that the calculation is the number of virtual processors supporting the VM divided by the number of cores per physical processor when hyper-threading is off. I found this to be a key point as without this calculation one would license more than necessary. An example would be: 2 vcpu\’s supporting your vm divided by 4 as the number of cores per physical processor equals .5 so rounding up to the full processor you would need 1 per processor license for this VM. In the case where Hyper-threading is on, you would divide by the number of threads per physical processor. Hope this is helpful and if I misunderstood please let me know.
If you have a server with four quad core processors, and licenced each with MS SQL 2008 R2 proc licences (ie 4 Proc licences) then (if I\’m following the rules correctly) I\’m allowed to run 16 servers (assuming I have OS licences) each with SQL server installed.However, if I was hosting 17 SQL servers, can I just purchase and assign another MS SQL 2008 R2 Enterprise Proc licence (giving me intitlement to 4 more servers – even though the server only has 4 processors and I already have 4 proc licences) or do I need to move to Data Centre Proc licences? (meaning that you are not allowed to allocate more Proc licences than you have proc\’s.)thanksD
If you have a server with four quad core processors, and licenced each with MS SQL 2008 R2 proc licences (ie 4 Proc licences) then (if I\’m following the rules correctly) I\’m allowed to run 16 servers (assuming I have OS licences) each with SQL server installed.However, if I was hosting 17 SQL servers, can I just purchase and assign another MS SQL 2008 R2 Enterprise Proc licence (giving me intitlement to 4 more servers – even though the server only has 4 processors and I already have 4 proc licences) or do I need to move to Data Centre Proc licences? (meaning that you are not allowed to allocate more Proc licences than you have proc\’s.)thanksD
I have a one processor machine (quad-core) with a one processor license. I want to add another physical processor… Can i buy another ‘one processor’ license, or do i need to get a ‘two processor licence”?
Thanks
Did question (Posted by Unknown on June 2, 2010 at 3:00 am) get answered? I have a related question. If you have a server with two quad core processors, and licensed each with MS SQL 2008 R2 Proc licenses (ie 2 Proc licenses), do you get 4 OSEs or 8? In other words: if all Procs are licensed on a host, are you limited to 4 OSEs regardless of the number of Per Proc licenses? Or does each Per Proc license get 4 more OSEs?
Hi Emma,
I hope you pick this comment up, I know the thread is old now.
I have been researching some SQL Server VM licensing options for a customer of mine. I looked at the latest application mobility VLB and was a little surprised at what I was reading. It says that due to the application mobility rights now granted, you can licence the number of physical processors that are utilised by virtual OSEs:
Waiving the 90-Day Reassignment Rule for Eligible Servers Licensed under the Per Processor Licensing Model: Today, with licensing for Per Processor products like Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2 Datacenter and Microsoft BizTalk® Server 2010 Enterprise Edition, you can run unlimited software instances in physical operating system environments (OSEs), virtual OSEs, or both on your individual servers by counting all of each server’s physical processors and assigning it that number of licenses.
“With the new rules, instead of counting all of a server’s physical processors and assigning that number of licenses, you can count the number of the server’s physical processors that support OSEs in which server software instances are running at any one time, and assign that number of licenses. This applies both to physical processors being used by physical OSEs in which instances are running and to physical processors supporting virtual OSEs in which instances are running. The waiver of the short-term reassignment rule then allows you to move the licenses as your workloads fluctuate or move across servers. In addition, different physical processors support OSEs in which instances of the software are running on different servers.
With these licensing changes, you count the greatest number of physical processors at any time supporting OSEs in which instances are running across your server farm, and assign that number of licenses. Without the limitation on license reassignment, you can reassign licenses within your server farm as frequently as needed as long as each server that is running instances of the server software has at least one processor license for each supporting physical processor. You can move licenses freely from server to server as workloads fluctuate and move, and different physical processors are used. The software can run in any number of physical and virtual OSEs within a server farm as long as the number of physical processors supporting OSEs in which instances of the software are running at any one time does not exceed the number of licenses assigned to servers in the server farm.
For example, as displayed in Figure 1 in this brief, assume you run three instances of SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise in three separate virtual OSEs (each with two virtual processors) at the same time. Assume these instances run in a server farm that has 20 servers, each with four physical processors. If just three unique physical processors support the OSEs in which the three instances are running, then, based on the licensing changes, you need only three SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise processor licenses. So you can run those three instances anywhere in your server farm. If, however, two physical processors support each of the OSEs in which the instances are running, for a total of six unique physical processors in this scenario, you would need six SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise processor licenses. Without the licensing changes, you would need 80 processor licenses to support moving the instances freely in the server farm”
Is this right? If I have a customer with 5 SQL Server VMs supported by 3 quad core processors in a server farm of 5 servers, 10 processors in total, they need only license 3 processors of Enterprise Edition? Even if the 5 VMs are using 10 virtual CPUs in total?
Thanks in advance.
And this is why I pay someone to manage all of the technical aspects of servers & hosting 😀
Hi Emmar
In your comment above on SQL you indicated that
‘You may run, at any one time, any number of instances of the server software in up to four operating system environments (physical or virtual) on that server. ‘
However our resller has indicated that all physical & Virtual have to be licensed as if physical is this correct?
Hi Stuart, would be good to advise your reseller to view the latest PUR, if they have any uncertainty ask them to clarify with there partner account manager who can connect to the right local licensing folks
cheers
emma
Hi,
I just want to know if I purchase SQL per processor licenses for two processor license then can I get two different-different product key for each processor? I have one server with physical two processor.
Quick reply I am waiting….
hai .
Can i know the prices for both enterprise and standard editions .
Hi Emma
In your article you state :
Don’t forget, Fail-over rights still exist and have been extended from 2000 to now include Small Business, Workgroup and Standard
I can’t find any official Microsoft reference to support this. Could you post a link?
Thanks
Hi. I’m hoping you can help. A member of my team was troubleshooting a virtual SQL 2008 R2 Enterprise installation in our dev environment, with an SQL 2008 Enterprise (not R2) machine in our production environment.
He reported to me after the fact that he “upgraded the SQL 2008 Management Studio on the non R2 box…to R2, which also updated some other components of SQL 2008 on that machine.
My question, then, is have we violated the licensing agreement in doing this? I don’t believe he updated anything other than the client tools (nor do I understand why he felt this was necessary to fix a ‘connect’ issue). But I’m trying to figure out if I need to change anything to be sure I’m license compliant?