February 8, 2022 at 9:12 am
my current setup is:
Standard Edition (64-bit) on Windows NT 6.2 <X64> (Build 9200: ) (Hypervisor)
I have a few questions about the best way to migrate to 2019 version. From what I've read, it's best to create a new server and move the database to it. So I plan to create a new virtual machine with Windows Server 2016. my first doubt is the licenses. Server/database licensing seems to differ in windows server 2016. Do I need to purchase CALs for database/windows users?
We have a second server with RDP on which our ERP program is installed. We have RDP CAL licenses there. Each domain user can run the ERP program via the remote desktop and then the ERP program connects to the Database. So, in fact, only one or two users connect to the Database. It looks a bit different when it comes to SSAS, we have created data cubes and these cubes can now be connected to by any domain user who receives an appropriate role in SSAS.
Also do not know if we need to purchase a license for the server cores if it is a virtual machine?
February 8, 2022 at 5:01 pm
Licensing is a question best answered by your licensing provider. Forum answers are going to be guesses based on what WE have seen, and you may have some deal with your license provider to get a different deal than we have seen.
My opinion though - if you are upgrading the Windows Server from 2012 to "something newer", why not go to 2019? Why stop at 2016?
But yes, Server licensing is different than SQL licensing. For the server license, you likely don't need that many CAL's as it is per user who will be logging into the server (if I remember right) and for that you can likely get by with 0 CAL's and just use the admin console to connect. You aren't likely to have people RDP-ing into the server except for administrative tasks. Now, if this isn't the case, you would likely need 1 CAL per user who will RDP in, but I would not recommend setting up a SQL Server for multi-user connections.
For the Database, if memory serves, 2019 in a VM environment is licensed to either the individual VM based on number of cores OR to the entire VM host. It depends on your need. If you ONLY plan on having 1 VM with SQL on it, I'd license for that VM. If you plan on having multiple VM's with multiple SQL instances, it may make more sense to license the VM Host.
Again, this is a good question to ask your license provider as they will let you know what you need to do. We have found that during transition from one system to another, even if both systems are online during the process, as long as we do our best to keep the online time to a minimum (ie shut off the old instance as soon as everything is migrated), the license vendor has indicated that this is an acceptable use case where we didn't need to purchase additional licenses.
The above is all just my opinion on what you should do.
As with all advice you find on a random internet forum - you shouldn't blindly follow it. Always test on a test server to see if there is negative side effects before making changes to live!
I recommend you NEVER run "random code" you found online on any system you care about UNLESS you understand and can verify the code OR you don't care if the code trashes your system.
February 8, 2022 at 6:17 pm
To understand better, you have an ERP system that connects to SQL Server. Users access this by RDP'ing into a different server. You have purchased CAL's as your licensing for this access.
If there are no other databases on this instance, and there is no other applications, like reports, etc. that connect to this database, then the CAL licensing is fine. Assuming you have purchased enough of them.
When SQL is installed on a VM, there is no difference in licensing. You can license by CAL or per core. SQL 2019 is per CORE, not per PROCESSOR. That changed with SQL 2016 (I think). With Enterprise edition, if you license all of the cores on the VM Host, you can then create an unlimited number of VM's running SQL Server on that host.
If there are many users access SSAS, it appears that your best licensing model would be per core.
The current cost per standard CAL is about 900 for the server, and about 210 per CAL. So, 10 users using CAL licensing would be 900+2100. Per core licensing is about 3500 per pack of 2 core licensing. So, a 4 core machine will cost 7k.
I would not purchasing licensing based upon advice on a public forum. As Brian said, contact your license provider. Nearly all of them offer this service and are understand the nuances of the licensing far better than most of us.
Michael L John
If you assassinate a DBA, would you pull a trigger?
To properly post on a forum:
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/61537/
February 8, 2022 at 8:20 pm
I am not going to respond to the licensing aspects - but I would recommend upgrading the OS to Windows Server 2022 for the SQL Server system. The only reason not to do that would be if the vendor has CLR functions that haven't yet been certified on the latest OS. I would not recommend moving to Windows Server 2016 - you will just end up building a new VM in the very near future when that OS hits end of life.
On the ERP system - the OS that you upgrade to needs to be certified by the ERP vendor. In many cases, they won't be certified on the latest OS and will not support the system, but - validate with the vendor before determining what OS you can use. You may find that they support 2019 but only on version X and that would require an application upgrade as well as the OS upgrade.
Jeffrey Williams
“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”
― Charles R. Swindoll
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