VM and SQL core license

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VM and SQL core license

sqlfriend

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Points: 52781
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November 22, 2019 at 5:52 pm

#3700086

I am using SQL server 2017 standand edition. We installed on a virtual machine.
A question about SQL license:
If the VM has assigned 2 CPU (sockets) and each one has 4 Virtual processors.
How many core license we should buy?
Thanks

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frederico_fonseca SSCoach Points: 16167 More actions · Answer 1

8 core license - see http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/8/c/78cdf005-97c1-4129-926b-ce4a6fe92cf5/sql_server_2017_licensing_guide.pdf - page 16

Note that for Standard the only option is to license the individual VM - if it was Enterprise the whole physical server could be licensed.

muthukkumaran Kaliyamoorthy SSCoach Points: 19026 More actions · Answer 2

sqlfriend wrote:

I am using SQL server 2017 standand edition. We installed on a virtual machine.
A question about SQL license:
If the VM has assigned 2 CPU (sockets) and each one has 4 Virtual processors.
How many core license we should buy?
Thanks

Check with your VM or procurement team, they have purchased license for the esxi host, you can add many vm inside as long as you have resource.

Muthukkumaran Kaliyamoorthy
https://www.sqlserverblogforum.com/

frederico_fonseca SSCoach Points: 16167 More actions · Answer 3

muthukkumaran Kaliyamoorthy wrote:

Check with your VM or procurement team, they have purchased license for the esxi host, you can add many vm inside as long as you have resource.

Not if using Standard edition as clearly stated on the licensing guide

Jo Pattyn SSC-Dedicated Points: 32350 More actions · Answer 4

Where is that passage "Not if using Standard edition as clearly stated on the licensing guide" in the licensing guide?

Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 736478 More actions · Answer 5

The 2017 licensing guide section is shown here:

2019-11-25 12_01_15-Microsoft Edge

The note is listed and says:

Note: Licensing individual VMs is the only licensing option available for SQL Server 2017 Standard Edition customers who are running the software in a virtualized environment under the Per Core model.

You can license all physical cores in a physical scenario with Standard and then have multiple instances. If you go virtual, you need to either license all physical cores with EE and then have unlimited VMs, or license the virtual cores in each Standard VM.