November 28, 2014 at 3:20 am
Hi Guys,
I hope you can clarify something for me.
I have a 3 node SQL Server Failover cluster in my production environment. Each Node has 24 cores.
I will run 2 instances of SQL one on Node1 and one on Node2. Node 3 will serve only as failover.
For this scenario I have purchased licenses for 48 cores (that is 24 2 packs) WITH SA.
Now enter the DR site.
So for my DR site, I want the exact same configuration a 3 node cluster with sql running on 2 nodes, and syncing the data from production using AlwaysOn availability groups.
The DR will serve only as DR. Other than the data syncing from production , there will be no active connections to it. Nothing. It will just sit there, in case we have to failover to it, hopefully never.
So the question is, in this scenario, do I have to purchase additional licenses for the DR?
November 28, 2014 at 7:09 am
MSteynberg (11/28/2014)
Hi Guys,I hope you can clarify something for me.
I have a 3 node SQL Server Failover cluster in my production environment. Each Node has 24 cores.
I will run 2 instances of SQL one on Node1 and one on Node2. Node 3 will serve only as failover.
For this scenario I have purchased licenses for 48 cores (that is 24 2 packs) WITH SA.
Now enter the DR site.
So for my DR site, I want the exact same configuration a 3 node cluster with sql running on 2 nodes, and syncing the data from production using AlwaysOn availability groups.
The DR will serve only as DR. Other than the data syncing from production , there will be no active connections to it. Nothing. It will just sit there, in case we have to failover to it, hopefully never.
So the question is, in this scenario, do I have to purchase additional licenses for the DR?
Why on earth do you want a 3 node cluster on your DR site?
DR should be light weight and consist of just the required to temporarily support your critical systems.
Remember that with FCIs as replicas in your AlwaysOn group, you'll be limited to manual failover anyway so will always require DBA intervention.
The SQL server 2012 licensing guide states that truly passive instances are not required to be fully licensed as long as they're not used for client data access or workload offload scenarios.
I'd urge you to think more about your requirements, feasability and the costs involved. Deploying AlwaysOn groups to remove the shared storage single point of failure and then immediately reintroducing this via FCIs could end you up with egg on your face.
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"Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉
November 28, 2014 at 7:43 am
It is my understanding that licensing SQL server 2014 with software assurance allows only one passive server per licensed server, having a failover server in the production environment plus failover servers in the DR environment would require additional licenses.
References:
SQL Server 2014 Licensing Changes by Jeremiah Peschka http://www.brentozar.com/archive/2014/04/sql-server-2014-licensing-changes/
SQL Server 2014 Licensing Datasheet http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/products/sql-server/Buy.aspx#fbid=2zKOgZheVEb
November 28, 2014 at 7:55 am
WilburBud (11/28/2014)
It is my understanding that licensing SQL server 2014 with software assurance allows only one passive server per licensed server, having a failover server in the production environment plus failover servers in the DR environment would require additional licenses.References:
SQL Server 2014 Licensing Changes by Jeremiah Peschka http://www.brentozar.com/archive/2014/04/sql-server-2014-licensing-changes/
SQL Server 2014 Licensing Datasheet http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/products/sql-server/Buy.aspx#fbid=2zKOgZheVEb
Correct, my bad, This is 2014 and not 2012. It does raise further issues with the 3 node cluster for prod and 3 node cluster for DR, regards licensing.
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"Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉
November 28, 2014 at 11:54 am
Is there anyway to change this configuration so that no additional licensing would be required?
November 28, 2014 at 12:41 pm
Not sure if this will help in your environment.
We were considering a similar architecture for a project using AlwaysOn Availability Group for High Availavility (HA)/Disaser Recovery (DR): Primary data center with active production databases on active production SQL Server "Prod", HA primary data center synchronous passive SQL Server "Prod-HA", DR data center asynchronous passive SQL Server "Prod-DR".
All of our MS SQL Servers are Enterprise edition with software assurance (SA) on VMs, we implemeted SQL Server "Prod" in Primary data center with active production , SQL Server "Prod-DR" in DR data center with asynchronous passive databases. In primary datacenter we utilize features of vmWare for High Availability (e.g., blade failure). For this project, this design is sufficient.
November 30, 2014 at 4:21 am
seems like a typical design scenario, no FCIs too
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"Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉
December 1, 2014 at 8:01 am
You need to talk to your license reseller to work out the most business-effective and cost-effective design.
You need to talk to your license reseller to work out the most business-effective and cost-effective design.
If saying this twice does not get the point across, then...
You need to talk to your license reseller to work out the most business-effective and cost-effective design.
My understanding from what we have been through with Microsoft licensing is:
a) In almost all situations you need to license all servers on which you are running SQL Server.
b) The only exception is an active/passive two-node SQL Cluster, where the passive node does not require additional licensing.
c) If you are willing to face Microsoft in a court room, you may get some of their licensing terms declared unfair and void. Or you may lose.
This means that all servers involved with database mirroring or Always-On need licensing. If you are unsure about this, talk to your license reseller.
Original author: https://github.com/SQL-FineBuild/Common/wiki/ 1-click install and best practice configuration of SQL Server 2019, 2017 2016, 2014, 2012, 2008 R2, 2008 and 2005.
When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor they call me a communist - Archbishop Hélder Câmara
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