How to: Core and CAL Licensing (Microsoft)
LicenseQ - Microsoft Licensing Optimization Experts
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What to License?
Products that must be licensed per core:?
The above are products to license and manage your Window server estate. Both Windows Server and system center have prior version rights. Remember that each server must be licensed with the correct amount of core licenses followed by the correct amount of user and/or device client access licenses (CAL), which will be elaborated on below. ?
?Client Access License You Might Need?
What If You Have External Users???
External users are those who are not deemed a qualified user. These users require additional External Connector Licenses.??
How Does It Work???
To access these core servers, one requires a client access license (CAL), which are available for both users and devices. The choice between users and devices depends on your own structure; generally, if you have more devices than users in the firm, it makes more sense to license users (and vice versa). Furthermore, core licenses are needed to license a server and are dependent on the processor and cores, as explained below. ?
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Core Licensing??
The three most important things to consider are:??
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The general rule of thumb is that every server needs at least 16 core servers assigned to it, with a minimum of 8 cores per processor.??
For example, in Figure 1, there are 2 processors in the server, each with 8 Cores, meaning that 16 Core licenses are needed for correct implementation. Similarly, 16 Core licenses are needed in Figure 2, even though there is only 1 processor with 4 cores.?
Yet why is the 16 Core minimum present? This requirement is due to insights Microsoft learnt while transitioning from processor licensing to Core licensing. During this process they checked what current hardware standards were and discovered, on average, 16 Cores were needed per server - As such they determined their requirements off industry standards.??
Purchasing Cores?
There are 2 ways to purchase, either in packs of 2 or 16 Cores. However, we at LicenseQ advise avoiding purchasing 16 Core packs. As a side note though, Microsoft does sell on-premise server subscriptions for Azure, with the Windows Server standard version being licensed per 8 cores. This is mainly for the use of Azure Hybrid Benefit through CSP.?
?WS Editions?
Let us look at the difference between the two available options for Windows server: Standard vs Datacenter.?
The main difference is the virtualization possibilities. With “Datacenter” you are allowed to run the software on the physical operating system and an unlimited number of virtual machines. On the other hand, with “Standard” you can run the software on 2 operating system environments and an additional 2 virtual machines. Furthermore, these standard licenses are stackable and grant additional VM entitlements. This means that, for instance, if you have a server and run 4 virtual machines, you are able to assign double the amount of standard core licenses while remaining compliant. This could be cheaper than Datacenter, with the breakeven point being around 12 virtual machines per physical server.??
Key Takeaways
In summary, the key takeaways from Core Licensing and CAL are:?
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