SQL Server licensing on VMWare

Question

SQL Server licensing on VMWare

kevaburg

SSCoach

Points: 18131
More actions
May 6, 2015 at 12:18 pm

#300431

Hi Folks,
does anyone have any good resources or links regarding licensing SQL Server 2008 on a VMWare ESXi Server?
The problem is that at the moment we have 20 SQL Servers on an ESXi Cluster and I have been told that every SQL Server on every VM has to have every core on the cluster licensed, a situation I can not believe or understand.
Up until now I have not have much luck in finding suitable resouces so any help you can offer would as always greatly appreciated!
Regards,
Kev

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply

Lynn Pettis SSC Guru Points: 442467 More actions · Answer 1

kevaburg (5/6/2015)
Hi Folks,
does anyone have any good resources or links regarding licensing SQL Server 2008 on a VMWare ESXi Server?
The problem is that at the moment we have 20 SQL Servers on an ESXi Cluster and I have been told that every SQL Server on every VM has to have every core on the cluster licensed, a situation I can not believe or understand.
Up until now I have not have much luck in finding suitable resouces so any help you can offer would as always greatly appreciated!
Regards,
Kev

What edition of SQL Server are you running, Standard or Enterprise?

Lowell SSC Guru Points: 323518 More actions · Answer 2

also, check if you are running DataCenter Edition on the ESX; i believe that has licensing specific to VM instances, which is different than when you reuse Enterprise/Standard licenses across multiple VMs(which as i understand it, without DataCenter means they must be licensed per core as described)

Lowell

--help us help you! If you post a question, make sure you include a CREATE TABLE... statement and INSERT INTO... statement into that table to give the volunteers here representative data. with your description of the problem, we can provide a tested, verifiable solution to your question! asking the question the right way gets you a tested answer the fastest way possible!

kevaburg SSCoach Points: 18131 More actions · Answer 3

Hi There,

sorry my mistake....

The ESXi Cluster is running datacenter Edition, the SQL Servers are Enterprise.

Regards,

Kev

e4d4 SSCertifiable Points: 5777 More actions · Answer 4

Here you will find a licensing guide for MSSQL 2008 and a formula to calculate required licenses (chapter 4)http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/F/8/6F84A9FE-1E5C-44CC-87BB-C236BFCBA4DF/SQLServer2008_LicensingGuide.pdf

Lynn Pettis SSC Guru Points: 442467 More actions · Answer 5

kevaburg (5/7/2015)
Hi There,
sorry my mistake....
The ESXi Cluster is running datacenter Edition, the SQL Servers are Enterprise.
Regards,
Kev

You should license SQL Server to the underlying physical hardware. You would then be able to run multiple VMs without having to license the VMs. Don't take my word, call Microsoft.