Check out this October announcement - It could save You Thousands!Microsoft recently announced a new SQL Server SA benefit that is well worth reviewing – it could either release some currently consumed cores or save you buying more for any clustered environments you have now or are planning. Starting Nov 1st, every Software Assurance customer of SQL Server will be able to use three enhanced benefits for any SQL Server release that is still supported by Microsoft:
So considering a typical architecture per diagram below the number of SQL Server core licenses required to operate this topology would be only 12 cores as opposed to 24 cores in the past:  Now the FAQ’s in the announcement included a specific question as to the versions that were covered and was answered in the affirmative by a Microsoft representative: Q1. Is this applicable to old SQL Server versions like 2014 & 2016? Answer for Q1: Yes. The benefit applies to all supported releases of SQL Server. Which raises the question – why do we once again see a potential conflict in the Product Terms which appear to qualify the benefit to SQL Server 2019 only: 4.2 SQL Server 2019 – Fail-over Rights For each of its Primary Workloads, Customer is entitled to:
We shall (again) seek clarification from Microsoft. In the meantime, check out more comprehensive information and examples in the accompanying Licensing Guide.
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Extended Support for SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 will end on July 9, 2019. |
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What will 'end of support' mean? ... it will mean the end of regular security updates, and with the extent of hacks and attacks going on at any time - and the (legitimately) tough regulatory position on data protection - that would be a concern to all.
Now there are of course some options available at this stage to address this exposure:
- If you are an Azure customer, Extended Security Updates will be available for free in Azure for 2008 and 2008 R2 versions of SQL Server and Windows Server to help secure your workloads for three more years after the end of support deadline.
- If you run on-premise installations, you will be able to purchase Extended Security Updates for three more years as long as you have Software Assurance or Subscription licenses under an Enterprise Agreement enrollment.
So if it's free for Azure customers, what does it cost if I'm not? ...
75 percent of the full license cost of the latest version of SQL Server or Windows Server, purchased annually to cover only the servers that require the updates.
Ouch.
But wait, there's more. If you happen to run any IBM software under Windows Server, and you also run those servers in a virtualised environment, you need to be aware of an often overlooked limitation under IBM's sub-capacity rules. And that relates to 'Eligible Technologies'.
A quick glance through the regularly updated table by our ILMT development friends could come as a bit of a shock if you happen to still be running Windows Server 2003 - it's no longer an eligible technology - take a look at the snippet below under VMware:
You can view the entire list here.
And if it's 'not eligible', what does that mean? Basically that you'll need to revert to manual counting for that environment, and for which IBM provides a particularly onerous method and template as an Excel workbook downloadable here.
So taking the Windows Server 2003 omission as an example it's fair to expect that we'll see Windows Server 2008 drop off in equally quick time. Not only then is there a compelling cost imperative due to Extended Support, but an equally expensive overhead with IBM sub-capacity tracking and reporting as well (remember - you need to generate your sub-cap domain usage quarterly).
Time to act!
Microsoft have an advisory page here that is worth checking which also provides links to their end of support resource center for further advice and assistance. And if you're looking for a better tool than perhaps a spreadsheet for you IBM sub-cap reporting we have just the ticket with our ComplianceWare application - we recommend you check it out here!
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Gone are the more simplistic days of Microsoft Per Processor licensing when there was a basic assignment of a single license to a processor, unlimited use and access, all available across multiple editions of software. Indeed, Microsoft were touting per processor as a major point of difference looking back to even SQL Server 2008, going as far as to claim ‘thought leadership’ when it came to competitor licensing models aligned to multicore processors.
From 2016 though (and noting the GA of SQL Server 2017 from October 2017), following their conformance and gradual demise of the processor metric, there are now primarily three Per Core licensing models:
So let’s take a look at 2 more common server products afflicted by this change, SQL Server under (1) and Windows Server under (2) – and if you are intending to use Self-Hosting or SPLA rights note that there are further considerations not covered here, the context of this blog contained to licensing acquired under Microsoft’s Volume Licensing offerings (refer: Microsoft Commercial Licensing)
From 2016 though (and noting the GA of SQL Server 2017 from October 2017), following their conformance and gradual demise of the processor metric, there are now primarily three Per Core licensing models:
- The Per Core model used by SQL Server and BizTalk Server;
- The Per Core/CAL licensing model used by Windows Server (Standard and Datacenter edition) following the release of Windows Server 2016;
- The Management Servers (core-based) licensing model used by System Center (Standard and Datacenter edition) following the release of System Center 2016.
So let’s take a look at 2 more common server products afflicted by this change, SQL Server under (1) and Windows Server under (2) – and if you are intending to use Self-Hosting or SPLA rights note that there are further considerations not covered here, the context of this blog contained to licensing acquired under Microsoft’s Volume Licensing offerings (refer: Microsoft Commercial Licensing)
SQL Server 2016
With SQL Server 2016 Per Core licensing, each server running software or any of its components (such as Reporting Services or Integration Services) must be assigned an appropriate number of SQL Server 2016 core licenses. The number of core licenses needed depends on whether you are licensing the physical server or individual virtual operating system environments (OSEs), across either edition.
With SQL Server 2016 Per Core licensing, each server running software or any of its components (such as Reporting Services or Integration Services) must be assigned an appropriate number of SQL Server 2016 core licenses. The number of core licenses needed depends on whether you are licensing the physical server or individual virtual operating system environments (OSEs), across either edition.
Unlike the Server+CAL licensing model, the Per Core model allows access for an unlimited number of users or devices to connect from either inside or outside an organisation’s firewall. With the Per Core model, you do not need to purchase client access licenses (CALs) to access the SQL Server software.
When running SQL Server in a physical OSE, all physical cores on the server must be licensed, noting software partitioning does not reduce the number of core licenses required except when licensing individual virtual machines (VMs). A minimum of four core licenses are required for each physical processor on the server, with the use of hyper-threading not affecting the number of core licenses required when running in a physical OSE, only those licensed under individual virtual machines (which are still subject to the four core minimum).
So with the basics understood you’ll then want to familiarise with what you gain with the addition of a Software Assurance subscription…
Key SQL Server SA Benefits
- License Mobility: If you are deploying to a server farm with technology such as VMware’s vMotion you’ll need SA for license mobility, now extended to cloud providers that are Microsoft Authorised Mobility Partners;
- Unlimited VMs: don’t be mistaken by the ‘Enterprise’ license denotation – without SA you can only run up a maximum number of VMs (with unlimited vCores) equal to the number of core licenses assigned to the server, and without SA that means having to buy more licenses should you exceed the maximum;
- Failover Rights: A secondary server used for failover support does not need to be separately licensed for SQL Server as long as it is passive (ie. not serving data, such as reports to clients running active SQL Server workloads, nor performing any “work”, such as additional backups being made from secondary servers) and the primary SQL Server is covered with active SA, noting the licenses must cover the higher number of associated server cores in the HA coupling.
And be cautious – the components of a SQL Server license cannot be separated. While management tools and other software identified as additional or supplemental software such as product documentation, client connectivity tools, software add-ins, and Software Development Kits (SDKs) can generally be distributed and run on any number of devices for use with a licensed instance of SQL Server software, other licensed components such as the SQL Server Database Engine (DB), SQL Server Services for Windows, Master Data Services (MDS), Analysis Services (AS), Integration Services (IS), Reporting Services (RS), and Data Quality Services (DQS) will require licensing if deployed to other servers. You can find more details of the components at: SQL Server Software Components
And for Non-Production: Effective April 1, 2016, SQL Server Developer Edition became a free product, available for download from the Microsoft Dev Essentials program as a potential alternative to the likes of a Visual Studio subscription. SQL Server 2016 Developer Edition is a fully featured version of SQL Server software—including all of the features and capabilities of Enterprise Edition--licensed for development, test, and demonstration purposes only.
Windows Server 2016
For both Standard and Datacenter editions, the number of core licenses required equals the number of physical cores on the licensed server, subject to a minimum of 8 core licenses per physical processor and a minimum of 16 core licenses per server (sold in 2-Core and 16-Core packs).
For both Standard and Datacenter editions, the number of core licenses required equals the number of physical cores on the licensed server, subject to a minimum of 8 core licenses per physical processor and a minimum of 16 core licenses per server (sold in 2-Core and 16-Core packs).
Which means being very careful when you tally your overall requirement – make sure you account for the 16-Core per server minimum across any single CPU servers you might have in your inventory where you might otherwise under-allocate (where <16).
And the differences in the editions?
- Standard: When all cores on the server are licensed (subject to the minimums), you can deploy two OSEs or two Hyper-V containers and unlimited Windows Server containers.
- Datacenter: When all cores on the server are licensed (subject to the minimums) you can deploy unlimited OSEs, Hyper-V containers, and Windows Server containers.
(and if you're looking for a definition of containers, look no further - go here)
So, To Finish …
Bear in mind that in both cases you will still need to account for the CAL requirements if necessary (and remember to count all direct and indirect users/devices, ie. no multiplexing), typically via the likes of a Core CAL Suite or equivalent, which as an example provides the following licenses:
Noting that the likes of SQL Server CALs and Dynamics/CRM CALs must be acquired separately.
- Windows Server CAL
- SharePoint Server Standard CAL
- Exchange Server Standard CAL
- System Center Configuration Manager Client Management License
- System Center Endpoint Protection Client Management License
- Skype for Business Server Standard CAL
Noting that the likes of SQL Server CALs and Dynamics/CRM CALs must be acquired separately.
Microsoft have provided a very helpful Licensing Brief across Core Licensing that I would also recommend reading for more information.
Well it would seem the big change is the move to (physical) core based licensing for Windows Server 2016, now offered as just two major editions - Standard or Datacentre - with an 8 core license minimum per processor and 16 core license minimum per server (sold in 2-core packs), subject to the accompanying User or Device CALs of course.
What does it all mean? Well the price for 16 core licenses for Standard or Datacentre is being touted as the same as the current pricing for one 2-processor 2012 R2 Standard or Datacentre, but an additional 2-cores will increase the price of server licensing by 25%.
Properly converting your processor licenses to cores is an imperative - if you don't get the numbers right (particularly with VM's running on the Standard edition) you could face some significant costs down the track due to the 2 VM maximum (ie. all physical cores must be licensed again for any VM increment above each 2 VM maximum).
The good news - as with the SQL Server conversion if your SA is current the license grant will cover no less than you have now (ie. all physical cores), so get counting and make sure you have the right artefacts to validate your entitlement at renewal time!
What does it all mean? Well the price for 16 core licenses for Standard or Datacentre is being touted as the same as the current pricing for one 2-processor 2012 R2 Standard or Datacentre, but an additional 2-cores will increase the price of server licensing by 25%.
Properly converting your processor licenses to cores is an imperative - if you don't get the numbers right (particularly with VM's running on the Standard edition) you could face some significant costs down the track due to the 2 VM maximum (ie. all physical cores must be licensed again for any VM increment above each 2 VM maximum).
The good news - as with the SQL Server conversion if your SA is current the license grant will cover no less than you have now (ie. all physical cores), so get counting and make sure you have the right artefacts to validate your entitlement at renewal time!