July 15, 2011 at 1:33 am
We are planning to purchase a sql server for cloud server ( on VM Ware windows server 2008 enterprise- WIN2008R2E/64, 8xCPU, 16384MB RAM, 50GB OS Storage, 500GB Local Storage)
Our application is a web application.
Which edition is suited to this server (planned db growth per day 5GB)?
Which licensing is best for this?
Average Licensing cost?
8 CPU X 25k per processor (ON Virtual Server) is very expensive. So, can anyone suggest an alternative licensing?
Thanks in advance.
July 15, 2011 at 2:09 am
If it's a web app (you can't count users) it has to be processor licensing. Note that's processor, not core. Two quad-core CPUs require 2 processor licenses, not 8.
As for edition, can't say. Depends on the features and scalability that you want. Look over what the editions support in terms of features and resource limitations and make your decision based on that.
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
July 15, 2011 at 2:27 am
Thanks for ur reply Gail,
I thought no of processors showing on windows was cores. But it’s actually 8 physical processors (I found out using Winaudit).So the average cost will be 8X 25k for enterprise license, because enterprise only support 8 Physical processors.
It seems very expensive for my company. Investing this much for a physical Server may worth it, but we have purchased only a cloud instance from a cloud service provides. They are not giving any application with OS.
July 15, 2011 at 2:35 am
That's incredibly unusual. You can't get single-core processors for servers. It's probably a virtual machine and that's messing up winaudit. If that's the case, you'll have to speak to the host and to someone from Microsoft about how it gets licensed.
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
July 15, 2011 at 2:39 am
This URL may help in making the decision: http://databases.about.com/od/sqlserver/a/mssql_editions.htm
gsc_dba
July 15, 2011 at 2:52 am
Thanks for all,
I am confused with Virtual Server and SQL Serve Licensing Policies a lot. We have scheduled a meeting with hosting company. Hopefully waiting for a solution.:-)
July 15, 2011 at 6:27 am
you asked the same question in relation to licensing yesterday, was the information what we gave you unclear? is there anything you would like us to expand on?
I also attached the up to date R2 quick reference guide which Microsoft have wrote on how to licence SQL, from CAL / Proc / Virtual licensing models.
There is a calculator in the PDF which will tell you how many licences you need for VOSE's.
VOSE's also depend on what you want in terms of edition (std/ent/dc) as each one has a different VOSE licensing model.
July 15, 2011 at 7:04 am
Thanks for Your reply Anthony,
I understood what you explained yesterday. Now I am clear about Sql Server Licensing.Today,I again confused with Our Virtual Server Processors, Its showing 8 Processors, and no clear information about cores, I checked INTEL site, and I found that Particular Processor has 8 cores. So it was very difficult to understand what they are showing (Cloud service provider), Processors or Core as Processor. So decided to contact them.
July 15, 2011 at 7:07 am
are you hosting it with a SQL cloud provider or are you having the DB server hosted on site and creating a private/public cloud.
from what I have seen if you are using a provider they usually take care of all the licensing fees as part of the package, you dont need to worry about it.
July 15, 2011 at 2:24 pm
You are saying cloud...have you looked into SQL Azure? It may be far more cost effective for you.
There are no special teachers of virtue, because virtue is taught by the whole community.
--Plato
July 15, 2011 at 2:53 pm
Chopped right out of the licensing document (file is called 2008 SQL Licensing Overview final.docx):
VIRTUALIZATION AND MULTI-INSTANCING
Virtualization is defined broadly as the running of software on a “virtual environment.” A virtual environment takes place when an operating system (OS) is somehow emulated, or does not run directly on the physical hardware.
When software is virtualized, one or several applications and their associated operating systems can run on one physical server inside their respective virtual environments. One of the benefits of a virtualized scenario is that multiple applications can run concurrently on a server with isolation at the OS level.
An option to virtualizing software is multi-instancing. In this case, multiple copies of an application run concurrently on a single copy of an OS. Multi-instancing for SQL Server 2008 can take place both in a virtual environment or in a physical environment. While multi-instancing offers a relatively high degree of isolation between copies of SQL2008, this isolation takes place at the application level (instead of at the OS level).
When SQL Server 2008 runs inside a virtual operating environment, it requires at least one license per virtual operating environment, except for SQL Server Enterprise edition. Several copies or instances of SQL Server 2008 can run inside a virtual operating environment. These must be licensed as follows:
When licensed Server / CAL
Workgroup and Standard editions now allow you to run any number of instances of the server software in one physical or virtual operating system environment on the licensed server at a time. Previously, only the Enterprise edition of the Server license allowed multi-instancing. This is a great incentive for customers to adopt the Server/CAL model.
For Enterprise edition, 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 one physical and any number of virtual operating system environments on that server.
When licensed Per Processor
With Workgroup, Web, and Standard editions, for each server to which you have assigned the required number of per processor licenses, 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
For enterprise edition there is an added option: if all physical processors in a machine have been licensed, then you may run unlimited instances of SQL server 2008 in one physical and an unlimited number of virtual operating environments on that same machine.
Passive copies / Transferability of VMs
Passive copies of SQL Server 2008 that are on virtual environments which are not running on a machine do not require the purchase of licenses. Copies of SQL Server 2008 that are run on a virtual machine, can only be transferred from server to server every 90 days. Running copies of the VMs can be moved across licensed servers at any time.
Figure 4. In this example, we have two Virtual Operating Environments. Each contains 3 running instances of SQL WG or SE. Only one SQL license is required per each VOE, for a total of 2 SQL licenses
Figure 5. In this example, we have a box with 4 physical processors. On it, two Virtual Operating Environments are running SQL. In this case, two SQL Processor Licenses are required.
Figure 6. In this example, we have a box with 4 physical processors. On it, five Virtual Operating Environments are running SQL, each virtually accessing one processor. In this case, five processor licenses are required for SQL.
Figure 7. This example shows the extra option available with the enterprise edition only. Number of proc licenses required for EE : 4 SQL Processor Licenses.
Number of proc licenses required for Standard, Workgroup: 5 SQL Processor licenses
Figure 8. This example shows the extra option available with the enterprise edition only. Required license using additional rights for EE : 1 SQL Server License. Required licenses for all other workgroup and standard:4 SQL Server licenses
The right edition depends on what features you need, if you don't need Enterprise features then you are looking at lower $, also, ask your provider how many cores/proc for their machines, you probably already know this based on the information above. It sounded like 8 cores/1 proc, which equals 1 CPU, based on the licensing doc the fact it is presented to the VM as 1 core/1 proc X 8 doesn't matter, their big concern is how many physical sockets are on the mother board..
CEWII
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