SQL Server CAL Licensing. | The Coffeehouse

xgamer
Two Sides to Everything

I am having a bit difficulty in understanding SQL Server CAL Licensing scheme.

The scenario is as follows :
Company "X" is buying a business application software which uses the SQL Server database. The software uses SQL TCP/IP Connection to connect to the SQL Server. Company "X" has brought SQL Server license to be installed on Windows 2003 server and business application software to be installed on 10 XP Clients. Though all the 10 people will be running Business application software, they will not be installing any part of the SQL Server database components ( apart from ODBC / MDAC which is part of XP ). The Business application software will use ODBC / MDAC to access data on SQL Server. The Business application software uses the same SQL Server user to connect to SQL Server ( it does not use Windows Authentication but instead uses SQL Server authentication ) . All the 10 people may not be using the using the Business application software all the time and at the same time . Connection is over TCP/IP.

My Question is :
1. How many Client CALs are required to be purchased ? Is it 10 CALs ?
2. How the SQL CAL's are calculated - For example instead of one Business application on each PC, there are two Business applications from different vendors ( both use same SQL Server but may be different SQL Server user ) . Does the CALs need to be doubled though it is same PC ?
3. What if normally all the PC's are not running Business application at the same time, but only very very rarely (theoritical situtation ) all of them are accessing SQL Data using Business application - does this scenario change the SQL CAL Calculation ?

Its really confusing .... especially w.r.t SQL Server ( may be bcos when I think of SQL Server with TCP/IP connection, i think it like a webserver which can serve many users requests without licensing issues ).

semu

hmm, did you get an answer to your question?

i have the exact same situation and need to do the maths

figuerres
???

In reply to semu

#Aug 27th @ 6:59 AM

best thing to do is all microsoft sales and ask them.... they have folks who know the rules and will help explain them.

Sabot
My name is Dave Oliver. I'm a Technical Architect.

You need to decide which of three different licensing schemes you want to use for it:

Processor License: This is the simplest option. It is also the most expensive. You pay a flat rate for each CPU running SQL Server, and that's it ... and I mean CPU socket not per core.
Server plus device CALs: CAL stands for Client Access License. Under this scheme, you pay one price for the computer running SQL Server (no matter how many CPUs it has) and a separate price for each device that accesses the data.
Server plus user CALs: Almost the same, but in this case you pay for the server plus you purchase a CAL for each user that accesses the data.

Whether it's cheaper to go with processor licensing or CALs depends on how many users your application will have. If you're using SQL Server to back a Web application, you probably don't have any choice: unless you want to buy a CAL for every user or computer that hits your Web site, you need to purchase processor licenses.

On the other hand, for internal applications you may be better off with CALs if there are a limited number of devices or users that will access the SQL Server. Choose device CALs if you have multiple users sharing computers, or user CALs if you have users who roam among multiple computers.

Also, bear in mind that at a certain point it's cheaper to just buy processor licenses. For example, if you're running SQL Server Standard Edition on a single CPU, the cut-over point is around 25* users or devices; if you have more than that, it's cheaper to buy a processor license than to buy CALs. For SQL Server Enterprise Edition on 4 CPUs, the cut-over point is approx 400* users or devices.

*The number really does depend on what pricing you can get so you will have to do the maths

Please see the Licensing FAQ for details ....

https://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/licensing-faq.aspx

It's not hard to get your head around really .... I've also discovered that if you have allot of servers to license contact Microsoft because they can make things simplier still ... even introduce you the world of 'True-Ups!' ... now that's another story Wink

ZippyV
Fired Up

In reply to Sabot

#Aug 27th @ 9:39 AM

CAL's are the most ridiculous 'things' ever created.

JoshRoss
A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent.

In reply to ZippyV

#Aug 27th @ 12:08 PM

You're just saying that because you didn't think of them. If I were a torturer, I would offer all kinds of nasty instruments for my victims to choose from. Who knows, perhaps people prefer the drill to the hammer or the French tickler.

Sabot
My name is Dave Oliver. I'm a Technical Architect.

In reply to ZippyV

#Aug 27th @ 12:08 PM

CAL's are a standard licensing unit of measure that's been around since before Microsoft existed and used by allot of companies not just I.T.