Question on SQL licencing in VMware

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Question on SQL licencing in VMware

bfitz52

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Points: 116
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May 13, 2018 at 7:39 am

#345199

Hi not sure if this is the right forum
Running 65 SQL machines all workload pretty similar no OLTP
Running across 5.5 6.5 vSphere at present
All of them will moved to vSphere 6.5 in next month or so
We have SQL 2002, 2005, 2008 and 2012 versions
Just looking for a guideline on how best to licence this
We're using per core if anyone has licenced SQL for VMware recently would appreciate some feedback
Looking to use CPU E5-2690 v4@ 2.60GHz Lenovo Servers to use 2 ESXi hosts from what I have seen will have to include a third host for maintenance, redundancy and patching
What is the best way to approach this? Appreciate any help in this 🙂

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Thom A SSC Guru Points: 99143 More actions · Answer 1

Best way to approach it would be to talk to your vendor. Thats what they're there for. Licencing can be very complex, and even vary from client to client. You also have different models there as well (2008 and prior were licenced by CPU, not Core).

I'm not sure you're going to be able to buy licences for SQL Server 2002 or 2005 anymore (and you're going to struggle with 2008 and 2012). The former are completely unsupported, and the latter both only have extended support; and 2008 doesn't have much of that left either. I'd strongly suggest looking at upgrading your instances when buying licences.

Thom~

Excuse my typos and sometimes awful grammar. My fingers work faster than my brain does.
Larnu.uk

bfitz52 SSC Enthusiast Points: 116 More actions · Answer 2

Thanks found this link which looks good https://blogs.flexera.com/elo/2017/06/an-introduction-to-microsoft-sql-server-licensing/

Could i take same example for 65 SQL VMS with 160 cores, I plan on speaking to the licence manager about this tomorrow, is my way of thinking valid here?

SQL Server – Per Core Based Licensing in a Virtualised Environment

When licensing SQL Server under the Per Core model in a virtualised environment, the following will need to be identified:

Example 2 – This SQL Server has two virtual machines, VM1 has two virtual cores and VM2 has six virtual cores.

Ascertain how many virtual cores there are in each virtual machine (keeping in mind the minimum requirement of four cores per virtual machine)
Count the total number of virtual cores
- VM1 has two virtual cores, but doesn’t meet the minimum requirement of four virtual cores. VM1 will therefore require four core licenses
- VM2 has six virtual cores
A total of eight cores are present, but four are required for VM1 therefore bringing the count up to ten virtual cores, so 5 SQL Server Per Core licenses (packs of 2) are required

https://mk0fxb8bu0sjnd4pkxyk.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2017/09/MS-SQL-Licensing-3-300x226.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 603px) 100vw, 603px">

Example 2

Note: Licensing of SQL Server Enterprise in a virtualised environment is only supported by the Per Core license model.

Thom A SSC Guru Points: 99143 More actions · Answer 3

That's the current licensing plan, yes. But if you're wanting the buy 2002-2008 licenses, then the plan would be different. If you're looking to upgrade (to 2017, I assume) then that's the base model for licensing.

Thom~

Excuse my typos and sometimes awful grammar. My fingers work faster than my brain does.
Larnu.uk

bfitz52 SSC Enthusiast Points: 116 More actions · Answer 4

Thanks is there no company plan to unify all versions of SQL licences

(I know i should check that with licence provider thanks) 🙂

Thom A SSC Guru Points: 99143 More actions · Answer 5

bfitz52 - Sunday, May 13, 2018 1:43 PM
Thanks is there no company plan to unify all versions of SQL licences
(I know i should check that with licence provider thanks) 🙂

Then I least suggest you upgrade your 2002-2008 instances. 2012, at least, has a few years of extended support. You should definitely be upgrading your 2002 and 2005 instances, but buying 2008 now is a waste of money when it's completely unsupported so soon.

Thom~

Excuse my typos and sometimes awful grammar. My fingers work faster than my brain does.
Larnu.uk

bfitz52 SSC Enthusiast Points: 116 More actions · Answer 6

Thanks Thomas when is 2008 out of support

Is there no volume licence to cover every SQL licence i was under impression there was

Thom A SSC Guru Points: 99143 More actions · Answer 7

bfitz52 - Sunday, May 13, 2018 2:57 PM
Thanks Thomas when is 2008 out of support
Is there no volume licence to cover every SQL licence i was under impression there was

No, every version of SQL Server has a separate licence set; just because you have a licence for 2012, doesn't mean you have one for 2014+ if you upgrade the instance.

Thom~

Excuse my typos and sometimes awful grammar. My fingers work faster than my brain does.
Larnu.uk

bfitz52 SSC Enthusiast Points: 116 More actions · Answer 8

Thanks Thom A,

when were 2002 and 2005 out of support warranty and when is 2008 out of support ?
Appreciate all your help 🙂

Thom A SSC Guru Points: 99143 More actions · Answer 9

bfitz52 - Sunday, May 13, 2018 4:27 PM
Thanks Thom A,
when were 2002 and 2005 out of support warranty and when is 2008 out of support ?
Appreciate all your help 🙂

Google, or your favoured search engine, are your friend here.

Thom~

Excuse my typos and sometimes awful grammar. My fingers work faster than my brain does.
Larnu.uk