There are two different types of CALs, depending primarily on what your company’s needs the server software you intend to use your CAL for. Basically, while the server license allows for the installation of the software on an operating system, the CAL allows for people or devices to access the services that the operating system is hosting. Benefits of Core-Based LicensingĬlient Access Licenses (CAL), is a license that grants access to specific Microsoft server software, usually in conjunction with other Microsoft server software licenses. In addition to the license for the operating system, I would need 6 core licenses (since they come in packs of two) in order to be properly licensed. On the physical server, there are two processors, each with six physical cores with a total of twelve cores. The same logic is applied when using virtual cores in virtual environments.Ī math problem: Let’s say I have a single physical server.You don’t necessarily need it to be running to require a license for it. Anything that is installed on the physical machine you need to have a license for.
You would need two separate licenses for that scenario. If the SQL Server Agent is running exclusively on one SQL server and the SQL server reporting services is being run exclusively on another machine, you’ll run into problems if you try to license that all under a single license. What this means is that you can’t separate products of the SQL server over different machines. The SQL Server or any of its components needs to be licensed.You need at least four core licenses for each physical processor on the server (core licenses are sold in packs of two).You will need a core license for every core in the processor. You need to license every physical operating system environment (OSE) that is running SQL server software.