September 18, 2008 at 9:57 am
We are in the process of upgrading application software for one our major vendors that will convert us to the Web. They are using SQL 2005 to store meta data only that controls a user's workflow when they log in. The business data is actually stored in Cache. They have told us to purchase SQL 2005 Enterprise edition to take advantage of clustering and that we only need to purchase 3 CALs, 1 for each Web server in a farm that will be talking to SQL to get the user's metadata. We actually have thousands of users. Does this purchase of only 3 CALs seem "kosher" given what SQL is being used for ? Thanks for any input.
September 18, 2008 at 10:08 am
Technically you only have 3 Devices accessing the database, but I doubt MS will see it that way. My understanding is that for web applications you should license SQL Server by the Processor unless it is an internal app for say 20 users then you could get 20 User CALS. So in an Active/Passive cluster where you have 4 way servers you would need 4 processor licenses (you only need to license the Active node) and in Active/Active you'd need 8 processor licenses.
Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
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September 18, 2008 at 10:41 am
Jack,
Thanks for the opinion. So, if I'm reading you right, data access is data access regardless if it's "minimal". Our vendor is telling us that the licensing is not an issue because the web farm server will be accessing the user's security/workflow metadata from SQL, not the user. We are a little uncomfortable with this approach even though the vendor is telling us that this is how they do it for all their other clients. I suppose the risk we're taking is being audited by MS and them not agreeing with the licensing. Thanks again.
September 18, 2008 at 12:24 pm
It sounds to me like the vendor is trying to make their product appear to be less expensive than it really should be.
I've had this discussion with my Network/Server Admin where I argued that a web server is no different than having a kiosk that accesses the DB and buying 1 device CAL for that. In theory that is fine, but I really doubt MS thinks so.
Is your vendor going to pay any penalties if you do get audited?
Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
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September 18, 2008 at 12:34 pm
I will throw out my 2 cents. I'd be wary, very wary. Best thing you can do is get your vendor and Microsoft on the phone together and hash it out as a group.
Also, for a 2-node cluster, you can use SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition.
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