Mike Austin explains Windows Server licensing for IT managers. The core-based model requires a minimum of 16 cores per server and licenses all physical cores. You also need Client Access Licenses for users or devices, plus separate RDS CALs if people access the server remotely.
Questions this video answers
Windows Server Standard and Windows Server Datacenter.
8 physical cores per processor (minimum).
16 physical cores per server (minimum); a 16-core base license can be purchased.
Yes — all physical cores in a server must be licensed; if you have more than 16 cores, you must buy additional core licenses.
Windows Server CAL (User or Device) and Remote Desktop Services (RDS) CAL (User or Device).
Chapters
Are you an IT manager looking to cut costs on that upcoming EA renewal but not sure where to look? Are you someone in procurement just now looking for Microsoft servers to run in your business environment? Maybe you've been tasked to find savings in the IT department. Whoever you are and wherever you are, look no further than Windows Server. It's no secret Windows Server accounts for the third biggest amount of spend in the IT department from Microsoft software products in the enterprise world. But here's the thing, it keeps its top spot in the top three here because people see Windows servers and they just simply don't want to get into them. They're too complicated and frankly they're quite scary when you look at the licensing terms and conditions. But don't worry, because in this video I'll explain to you the one on one on Microsoft's Windows Server licensing shenanigans. Don't forget, if you want to take a little look, see at this PDF we've put together that lays out the whole Microsoft Windows Server licensing in deep detail. Click that link on the description below and if you click that, you can get your free copy today. So without further ado, let's get into Windows Server Licensing models. So what is Windows Server in the first place? I'm glad you asked that question. Let's get into the history of Windows Server, shall we? Since Windows Server launched at the turn of the century, it's become big businesses go to operating system for their business servers. Windows Server is built with the main purpose to be sharing services with multiple users, offering admin control over storage and applications on that corporate network. Much like SQL servers which we've covered in the last video. Over here, Windows servers come with their own unique editions. These editions each come with their own nuances to the way that they're licensed. This is what makes it quite difficult to license and also ensure it's licensed correctly. So when the auditors come knocking, you're compliant and you're entitled legally to use them. Now let's investigate into these licensing models. The main name to the game of licensing Windows servers is the core based licensing model. This means that the number of licenses you need is determined by the number of cores on the processor. This license model only applies to two editions of Windows Server, Windows Server Data center and Windows Server Standard. There are three rules that you need to follow when using the core based licensing model. Rule number one Every processor must be licensed to cover a minimum of 8 cores, even if you only have a 4 core processor running on your server. I know it's unfortunate for the four core servers out there. Number two, every server must be licensed to cover a minimum of 16 cores. This can also be covered under a 16 core base license which can be purchased at the time you buy a server. And all physical cores in a server must be licensed. Now I say physical because there is another way to license vms. However, due to its intense complications, that is going to be another video in itself which you can stay tuned to see if you hit that subscribe button and smash that like button. Anyways, other than that, every processor must be licensed to cover a minimum of 8 cores. Even if you have a 4 core processor running on your server, every server must be licensed to cover a minimum of 16 cores covered under a 16 core base license. All physical cores in a server must be licensed and if you have more than 16 cores, you'll need to buy more core based licenses. So now that you've got your cores licensed on your server, you might be thinking you're ready to go. However, not so fast. You are not out of the Windows Server licensing woods yet. For your workforce to legally use and access the server and its features, you will need to license them with cals. Cals are considered to be like keys. Each of these keys can be given to a user or a device to allow them to access the Windows server legally and also sometimes even access from a remote place. There are two types of cals, Windows Server CAL and Windows rds. Cal Remote Desktop Service cal. Within each of these cals is two ways to license them by user or by device. Let's take a look at them. User cals let one user access any amount of devices. That license is attributed to that user. Device cals let an unlimited amount of users access a Windows server through a single device. An RDS CALS will also be needed for users or devices who wish to access programs or full desktops remotely. Both a CAL and an RDS will be required for remote desktops. Now there is one exception to this rule being that if it's used for administration purposes, in which case there is no need for an RDS or a cal. Now let's talk about buying the CAL and its technicalities in. You can buy as many or as little amount of cows as you want. We usually see companies buying 50, 100, 500 cows as they grow. These cows do not have an addition. Once you purchase these cows, it allows your users or devices access to both a standard or datacenter server. So as you noticed, there may be some situations where buying a user cow or a device cow may be beneficial for your business or even a remote desktop service. Cal this is the name of the game and mixing and matching these cows can be quite tricky and sometimes we see if you're not truly tuned into it, you can end up costing your organization quite a bit of a hefty fine if you haven't optimized them correctly, or maybe not the best that they can be. Not only will that maybe run you back a few dollars, but in the event that Microsoft does come around and knocks on your door for an audit, they sniff out some unentitled access, you could be audited and find some even more hefty penalties. This is especially dangerous in big complex environments that are reaching over 100 servers. Once you're over about 100 servers, it increases exponentially the amount of difficulty it is to keep track and keep compliant on these Windows Server licenses. And that's why we've created our very own Windows Licensing Optimizer tool, which has been tested over hundreds of audits and is battle proven and ready to help you harness the power of Windows Server Optimization. So if you want to check out your Windows Server license position is and see if maybe you're paying more, paying less, or maybe even at risk of an audit, click the second link in the description below to see our tool in action and to get a demo of it. If you're interested in getting a better grasp on Windows Server licensing, don't forget to check out that PDF in the description below that helps lay out these tricky schemes in a nice visual manner. Thanks for watching this episode of the SAM Channel. Don't be afraid to drop a comment below. We read every one of them and we will do our best to answer them. Anyways, keep your software safe and your assets managed and I'll catch you on the flip on the SAM Channel.
