Microsoft Licensing Primer
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@BRRABill said:
So perhaps it would be easier for someone to present a Cliff Notes version of the server version of retail and VL. (And SA, too, since a lot of people seem to like it for servers.)
I can try, but I have a feeling I am going to get a lot wrong.
Basically retail only exists for customers who have not gotten big enough to get a VL license which, in theory, it basically no one.
Get servers through VL and only VL. You need CALs, that gets you into the VL range. So if you need a server, you need VL and it saves you money. So while I could come up with extremely fringe use cases for retail, it's really just academic.
In the real world, desktops are OEM and servers are VL.
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@brianlittlejohn said:
@scottalanmiller I would just assume retail doesnt exist as well. I only consider VL licensing for servers.
Yup. I'd actually put that way up in the thread. OEM for desktops, VL for servers and ignore all others. They are special cases at best.
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Retail and OEM for servers are really pointless. Just too expensive to justify.
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So VL is the only real way to go on the server front. Got it.
For desktops, there is only a VL UPGRADE license. For servers, there is a base license, correct? And also an upgrade license?
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@BRRABill servers don't have upgrade licenses.
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@brianlittlejohn said:
@BRRABill servers don't have upgrade licenses.
So to go from 2008 to 2012 you need to totall y repurchase a license for 2012?
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@BRRABill Yes, and CALs
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@BRRABill said:
@brianlittlejohn said:
@BRRABill servers don't have upgrade licenses.
So to go from 2008 to 2012 you need to totall y repurchase a license for 2012?
Unless you have SA for it. SA provides an upgrade path.
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@brianlittlejohn said:
@BRRABill Yes, and CALs
Well that makes it pretty darn simple.
Are there any company wide VL rights you get on the server level? Assuming you can move licenses around? (But only every 90 days, or if that something else?) Restore an image to another machine?
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@scottalanmiller That is true... SA does. I've done the math for my org, and it isnt worth it.
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@BRRABill said:
Are there any company wide VL rights you get on the server level? Assuming you can move licenses around? (But only every 90 days, or if that something else?) Restore an image to another machine?
Company wide licensing would normally be an Enterprise Agreement. Otherwise you are buying licenses for what you need.
Licensing the servers themselves you would need EA to move around, I believe. But to move workloads around you get DC licensing per machine and then the workloads can move to year heart's content.
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What is DC again?
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I think I read either here (or elsewhere like in the below link) you can legally move the VL around once every 90 days.
So say I only have 1 license and my server dies, I can BMR to new hardware and move the license.
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@BRRABill said:
I think I read either here (or elsewhere like in the below link) you can legally move the VL around once every 90 days.
So say I only have 1 license and my server dies, I can BMR to new hardware and move the license.
Well you can move it once every 90 days, but you also have to have enough licenses on the target host.
For DR, this is not an issue. since you are replacing what you had. But when people move for load balancing, you have to make sure you have enough licenses one each host.
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Right. Like that link says if you run it for a second on another machine you need a license.
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@BRRABill said:
Right. Like that link says if you run it for a second on another machine you need a license.
Yup. Basically - don't move licensing around willy nilly. If you have to failover whole systems, you can do so (once every 90 days.) And if you want to have flexibility to do what you want, you buy DC licensing for each physical host and you are covered.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@BRRABill said:
Right. Like that link says if you run it for a second on another machine you need a license.
Yup. Basically - don't move licensing around willy nilly. If you have to failover whole systems, you can do so (once every 90 days.) And if you want to have flexibility to do what you want, you buy DC licensing for each physical host and you are covered.
That kinda depends on how many VMs he is running... DC certainly simpler, but you can do it buying multiple Standard Server Licenses as well.
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@brianlittlejohn said:
That kinda depends on how many VMs he is running... DC certainly simpler, but you can do it buying multiple Standard Server Licenses as well.
Not at any size where you want to move hardware around willy nilly.
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@brianlittlejohn said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@BRRABill said:
Right. Like that link says if you run it for a second on another machine you need a license.
Yup. Basically - don't move licensing around willy nilly. If you have to failover whole systems, you can do so (once every 90 days.) And if you want to have flexibility to do what you want, you buy DC licensing for each physical host and you are covered.
That kinda depends on how many VMs he is running... DC certainly simpler, but you can do it buying multiple Standard Server Licenses as well.
Yeah the math is pretty basic to work out. I have not quoted DC lately (was $5.5k last time i checked), but I know I just got a quote with Server 2012 R2 at $800. So if you have 4 VMs spread as 2 on 2 hosts, that means you only need 2 licenses totaling $1600. But if you want to move them around whenever you desire, then you need 4 licenses totaling $3200. Still much cheaper than DC x 2 coming in at $11000.
