November 28, 2008 at 7:38 am
Are MSDN licenses suitable for Training and application QA environments (not development QA), or are these environments considered as production?
Have you seen any Microsoft doc that discuss that?
November 28, 2008 at 11:22 am
Hi,
Absolutely not for training but OK for development QA. It is licensed per developer ($50 per license) so each developer using a dev. environment needs a license.
"Developer Edition includes all of the functionality of Enterprise Edition, but is licensed only for development, test, and demo use."
(from http://www.microsoft.com/Sqlserver/2005/en/us/developer.aspx).
There is a similar paragraph in http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/c/a/ecafe5d1-b514-48ab-93eb-61377df9c5c2/SQLServer2005Licensingv1.1.doc.
/Elisabeth
elisabeth@sqlserverland.com
MCITP | MCT
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/elisabeth_redei/
http://linkedin.com/in/elisabethredei
November 28, 2008 at 11:27 am
I coudn't find anywhere in that docs references to licenses for training and non development QA environments.
November 28, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Then it will depend on the content of the training. If they are learning how to develop, then I believe that you could use the Development Edition licensing (still, one per student).
[font="Times New Roman"]-- RBarryYoung[/font], [font="Times New Roman"] (302)375-0451[/font] blog: MovingSQL.com, Twitter: @RBarryYoung[font="Arial Black"]
Proactive Performance Solutions, Inc. [/font][font="Verdana"] "Performance is our middle name."[/font]
November 28, 2008 at 12:14 pm
As I stated before this is an application Training and QA not development.
November 28, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Then you are probably going to need regular licenses.
[font="Times New Roman"]-- RBarryYoung[/font], [font="Times New Roman"] (302)375-0451[/font] blog: MovingSQL.com, Twitter: @RBarryYoung[font="Arial Black"]
Proactive Performance Solutions, Inc. [/font][font="Verdana"] "Performance is our middle name."[/font]
November 28, 2008 at 12:39 pm
I think you are right, I just can not find and "official" document stating that or something else.
November 28, 2008 at 12:50 pm
icata (11/28/2008)
I think you are right, I just can not find and "official" document stating that or something else.
Generally, that is not how these things work, a vendor does not normally list things that are covered by the default, but rather those things that are exceptions to the default.
Usually, the Vendor will state their "General" policy, which is what applies unless there are exceptions. Then they will state what the exceptions are. If your situation is not on the listed exceptions, then you are covered by the General policy.
[font="Times New Roman"]-- RBarryYoung[/font], [font="Times New Roman"] (302)375-0451[/font] blog: MovingSQL.com, Twitter: @RBarryYoung[font="Arial Black"]
Proactive Performance Solutions, Inc. [/font][font="Verdana"] "Performance is our middle name."[/font]
November 28, 2008 at 12:53 pm
"... but is licensed only for development, test, and demo use." For anything else BUT this, you need a regular license.
/Elisabeth
elisabeth@sqlserverland.com
MCITP | MCT
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/elisabeth_redei/
http://linkedin.com/in/elisabethredei
November 28, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Just playing the Devil's Advocate here, but couldn't you consider user training of an application using SQL Server 2005 as the database backend a "demonstration use"?
You can have SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition loaded on development, QA, UAT servers (not desktop systems) with each developer the develops and modifies code on these servers with a licensed copy of Developer Edition. You can then have QA and Users (not licensed) testing against these same servers without violating the licenses for SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition AS LONG AS those individuals are not creating/modifying code on the server.
Based on that, why couldn't you also train users against that some environment? It isn't production.
Final note, contact Microsoft and ask them directly. I know that the Development/QA/UAT is valid as that question has been asked many times on this site and several people who asked later reported back that is was true after contacting Microsoft.
December 1, 2008 at 7:18 am
The issue is that the application is a third party application, we haven't developed it, we are just doing QA (after OS and application patches, functionality, etc) and training
December 1, 2008 at 7:25 am
As I said, the final authority on what licensing you need is really with Microsoft. I'd contact them and explain your environment, and determine the proper licensing requirements for each.
December 1, 2008 at 7:29 am
You are right, thanks everybody for your help.
December 1, 2008 at 7:39 am
MSDN licenses can be used for development, test, and demonstration purposes. However they are licensed on single-user basis only. This means that every user accessing the server has to have an MSDN subscription. This also means that it is seldom a cost-effective way of licensing test systems. This is described in the following link http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/aa948864.aspx
When it comes to Developer Edition of SQL Server this is a separate product and is used for development and testing purposes only. It is exactly the same as SQL Server 2008 Enterprise edition but licensed per developer or tester (person). It has nothing to do with MSDN it is a separate SKU of SQL Server.
For more information about the licensing see the following document http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/e/6/1e68f92c-f334-4517-b610-e4dee946ef91/2008%20SQL%20Licensing%20Overview%20final.docx
This means that in many cases where you have a lot of users accessing the backend doing training it is more cost effective buying a full license for these servers. Also from a license management perspective it can be easier to buy real licenses since you do not need to track usage from a license compliance perspective.
Simon
December 1, 2008 at 7:58 am
Simon Lidberg (12/1/2008)
MSDN licenses can be used for development, test, and demonstration purposes. However they are licensed on single-user basis only. This means that every user accessing the server has to have an MSDN subscription. This also means that it is seldom a cost-effective way of licensing test systems. This is described in the following link http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/aa948864.aspxWhen it comes to Developer Edition of SQL Server this is a separate product and is used for development and testing purposes only. It is exactly the same as SQL Server 2008 Enterprise edition but licensed per developer or tester (person). It has nothing to do with MSDN it is a separate SKU of SQL Server.
For more information about the licensing see the following document http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/e/6/1e68f92c-f334-4517-b610-e4dee946ef91/2008%20SQL%20Licensing%20Overview%20final.docx
This means that in many cases where you have a lot of users accessing the backend doing training it is more cost effective buying a full license for these servers. Also from a license management perspective it can be easier to buy real licenses since you do not need to track usage from a license compliance perspective.
Simon
The Developer Edition of SQL Server can also be used for development, test, and demonstration purposes, and it only costs $50.00 USD so for this is actually very cost effective.
Several other posters on this site have also asked similar questions and have contacted Microsoft. From their feedback, Developer Edition loaded on a server, accessed by users for testing purposes (even if not licensed) was okay as long as those individuals were NOT making any changes to database objects (tables, views, stored procedures, etc).
The question here is slightly different, in that it is a third party application. the best thing that the OP can do here is go to the final authority, Microsoft, and determine what they need for their environment.
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