Frequently Asked Questions – FAQ

Microsoft SQL Server Licensing

These are the licensing rules used in the Belarc Data Analytics module.:

Terms used:

• An OSE is an Operating System Environment.
• A POSE is a Physical Operating System Environment.
• A VOSE is a Virtual Operating System Environment.

General rules

• SQL Server licenses are assigned only to physical servers.
• The number of SQL Server instances in an OSE is unlimited.
• A physical OSE is counted as having a minimum of 4 cores.
• Counting must be done according to the Core Factors
  [1].
• A virtual OSE is counted as having a minimum of 4 cores.
• A physical hyper-thread is counted as a virtual core, but is not counted as a physical core.

Datacenter per Processor (2008 R2)

• One license entitles to one physical processor.
• Must license all physical processors.
• Number of VOSEs is unlimited.
• Number of physical cores is unlimited.
• No CALs.

Parallel Data Warehouse per Core (2012)

• One license entitles to one core, physical or virtual.
• If running in POSE, must license by physical core.
• If running in VOSEs only, may license by physical cores or virtual cores.
• To license by physical core, must license all physical cores.
  ▶ May run SQL Server in a number of POSEs or VOSEs up to the number of licenses.
  ▶ Counting the physical cores must be done according to the Core Factors.
  ▶ Escapes the VOSE-uses-at-least-4-cores rule, making it more economical when using all or most of a large server via VOSEs.
  ▶ Cannot add licenses to run more VOSEs.
• To license by virtual core, must license all virtual cores in all VOSEs running SQL Server.
  ▶ Each VOSE is treated as having at least 4 virtual cores.
  ▶ May run SQL Server in VOSEs only.
  ▶ Is more economical when using a small portion of a large server via VOSEs.
• No CALs.
• Software Assurance does not entitle to unlimited virtualization.

Parallel Data Warehouse per Processor (2008 R2)

• One license entitles to one processor, physical or virtual.
• If running in POSE, must license all physical processors.
• If running in VOSEs, must license all used virtual processors.
• Total number of licenses required is sum of POSE and VOSE licenses.
• Number of physical cores is unlimited.
• No CALs.

Enterprise per Core (2014 and 2012)

• One license entitles to one core, physical or virtual.
• If running in POSE, must license by physical core.
• If running in VOSEs only, may license by physical cores or virtual cores.
• To license by physical core, must license all physical cores.
  ▶ May run SQL Server in a number of POSEs or VOSEs up to the number of licenses.
  ▶ Counting the physical cores must be done according to the Core Factors.
  ▶ Escapes the VOSE-uses-at-least-4-cores rule, making it more economical when using all or most of a large server via VOSEs.
  ▶ Can add licenses to run more VOSEs (one additional license per one additional VOSE).
• To license by virtual core, must license all virtual cores in all VOSEs running SQL Server.
  ▶ Each VOSE is treated as having at least 4 virtual cores.
  ▶ May run SQL Server in VOSEs only.
  ▶ Is more economical when using a small portion of a large server via VOSEs.
• No CALs.
• Bonus: If have Software Assurance and license by physical core, then entitled to unlimited virtualization (i.e., only need as many licenses as physical cores, regardless of number of VOSEs running SQL Server).

Enterprise per Processor (2008 R2)
Note: we ignore the option of the POSE using only a subset of the physical processors.

• One license entitles to one processor, physical or virtual.
• If running in POSE, must license all physical processors.
  ▶ One license entitles to four VOSEs.
• If running in VOSEs only, must license all used virtual processors.
  ▶ Usage examples: in case of a physical processor with 4 cores: using 4 cores means using 1 processor; using 5 cores means using 2 processors.
• Number of physical cores is unlimited.
• No CALs.

Enterprise per Processor (2008 and 2005)
Note: we ignore the option of the POSE using only a subset of the physical processors.

• One license entitles to one processor, physical or virtual.
• If running in POSE, must license by physical processor.
• If running in VOSEs only, may license by physical processors or virtual processors, whichever is cheaper.
• To license by physical processor, must license all physical processors.
  ▶ Number of VOSEs is unlimited.
• To license by virtual processor, must license all virtual processors in all VOSEs running SQL Server.
• Number of physical cores is unlimited.
• No CALs.

Enterprise per Server (2014 and 2012)
Available to existing Software Assurance customers only. Not available under new licenses.

• One license entitles to four OSEs, physical or virtual.
• Must license all OSEs running SQL Server.
• POSE has core limit of 20.
• Set of VOSEs has a total virtual core limit of 20.
  ▶ Can add licenses to run more VOSEs (one additional license per four additional VOSEs).
  ▶ Each additional set of VOSEs has a total virtual core limit of 20.
• User and/or Device CALs required.

Enterprise per Server (2008 R2)

• One license entitles to four OSEs, physical or virtual.
• Must license all OSEs running SQL Server.
• Number of physical processors is unlimited.
• Number of physical cores is unlimited.
• User and/or Device CALs required.

Enterprise per Server (2008 and 2005)

• One license entitles to one POSE and an unlimited number of VOSEs.
• Number of physical processors is unlimited.
• Number of physical processors is unlimited.
• Number of physical cores is unlimited.
• User and/or Device CALs required.

Standard per Core (2014 and 2012)

• One license entitles to one core, physical or virtual.
• For SQL Server running in POSE, must license all physical cores.
  ▶ There is a 4-core minimum.
• For SQL Server running in VOSE, must license all virtual cores in all used VOSEs.
  ▶ There is a 4-core minimum in each VOSE.
• Total number of licenses required is sum of POSE and VOSE licenses.
• No CALs.

Standard and Workgroup per Processor (2008 R2)

• One license entitles to one processor, physical or virtual.
• If running in POSE, must license all physical processors.
• If running in VOSEs, must license all used virtual processors.
  ▶ Usage examples: in case of a physical processor with 4 cores: using 4 cores means using 1 processor; using 5 cores means using 2 processors.
• Total number of licenses required is sum of POSE and VOSE licenses.
• Number of physical cores is unlimited.
• No CALs.

Standard and Workgroup per Processor (2008)

• One license entitles to one processor, physical or virtual.
• If running in POSE, must license all physical processors.
• If running in VOSEs, must license all used virtual processors.
• Total number of licenses required is sum of POSE and VOSE licenses.
• Number of physical cores is unlimited.
• No CALs.

Standard and Workgroup per Processor (2005)
Note: we ignore the option of the POSE using only a subset of the physical processors.

• One license entitles to one processor, physical or virtual.
• If running in POSE, must license all physical processors.
• If running in VOSEs, must license all used virtual processors.
• Total number of licenses required is sum of POSE and VOSE licenses.
• Number of physical cores is unlimited.
• No CALs.

Standard and Business Intelligence per Server (2014 and 2012)

• One license entitles to one OSE, physical or virtual.
• Must license all OSEs running SQL Server.
• Each OSE is limited to 16 cores.
• User and/or Device CALs are required.

Standard and Workgroup per Server (2008 R2 and 2008 and 2005)

• One license entitles to one OSE, physical or virtual.
• Must license all OSEs running SQL Server.
• Number of physical processors is unlimited.
• Number of physical cores is unlimited.
• User and/or Device CALs are required.

Footnotes

[1] A “Core Factor” must be applied to certain AMD processors and to CPUs with single or dual cores:

Processor Type Core Factor
AMD Series 31XX, 32XX, 33XX, 41XX, 42XX, 43XX, 61XX, 62XX, 63XX, with 6 or more cores 0.75
Single core 4
Dual core 2
Other 1