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Licensing Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Volume

Licensing

OVERVIEW
SQL Server 2017 delivers mission critical OLTP
database capabilities and enterprise data
warehousing with in-memory technology across
workloads. Customers will gain transformative
insights from in-database machine learning with
Python and R, plus rich interactive reporting on
any device for faster decision making. Developers
can choose their language and platform while
container support seamlessly facilitates DevOps
scenarios.

SQL Server 2017 on Linux

SQL Server 2017 supports deployment on RedHat
Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Ubuntu, and SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server (SLES). The SQL Server 2017
licenses are platform agnostic, so customers can
run the software on either Windows or Linux.
Notes on other editions
 A Parallel Data Warehouse appliance is licensed with Enterprise Core licenses
 Developer edition is functionally equivalent to Enterprise edition licensed for
development, test and demonstration purposes only. It may be downloaded
free of charge by members of the Dev Essentials program:
https://www.visualstudio.com/products/visual-studio-dev-essentials-vs

SQL SERVER 2017 LICENSING MODELS

Core Licensing Server/CAL Licensing

Rules for calculating required licenses: Purchase a SQL Server license for each server, and then purchase Client
• Count the number of cores in the server Access Licenses (CALs) for either users or devices:
• Buy that number of Core licenses, as long as a
minimum of 4 licenses are acquired per A Device CAL is assigned
processor to the device and allows
multiple users to use
• No CALs are required for
that device
internal or external users A User CAL is assigned to
• Core licenses are acquired the user and allows that
user to use multiple
in 2-packs
devices

Enterprise edition licensed Server/CAL
Limited to running in the physical
environment on servers with 20 cores or less
4 virtual machines allowed per Server license
with a maximum of 20 cores used across the
VMs
Only available for customers renewing SA on
an eligible Server/CAL licensed edition
For both types of CAL, the users or devices are licensed to access ANY SQL Server on the
network. The SQL CALs can also be used against any SQL Server regardless of platform or
edition.
Note that even if a user accesses SQL indirectly through another server (for example
when using a Line of Business application), a CAL is still required. This is often known as
multiplexing.
External Users may be licensed with User or Device CALs or via Core licenses.

© 2017 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft provides this material solely for informational purposes. Details may vary by geography.
MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT. v18.20
 Licensing Microsoft SQL Server 2017 - continued

DOWN-EDITION RIGHTS PREMIUM ASSURANCE

Can choose to deploy:
Premium Assurance is an Add-on purchase for customers with
Customers licensed for: Software Edition Software Version
active Software Assurance that allows them to add six years of
SQL Server 2017 Standard Standard 2017 or earlier product support for SQL Server 2008 and newer versions
Workgroup 2008 R2 or earlier
It is available in the Enterprise Agreement, Enterprise Subscription
Small Business 2008 R2 or earlier
Agreement, Server and Cloud Enrollment, and Enrollment for
SQL Server 2017 Enterprise Standard 2017 or earlier
Education Solutions. Premium Assurance must be purchased for all
Enterprise 2017 or earlier
SQL Server licenses with active SA in these agreements
Business Intelligence 2014 or earlier
Workgroup 2008 R2 or earlier Premium Assurance must be purchased for a product before it
Small Business 2008 R2 or earlier goes out of Extended Support. For example, to receive support for
Datacenter 2008 R2 or earlier SQL Server 2008 Premium Assurance must be purchased before
June 30, 2019

LICENSING SQL COMPONENTS FAIL-OVER LICENSING

SQL Server includes services such as Microsoft® SQL Server® Reporting Each active server licensed with SA coverage allows the installation of
Services and Microsoft® SQL Server® Analysis Services which are key to the a single passive server used for fail-over support, as long as the
Microsoft Business Intelligence solution. passive server has the same or fewer cores than the active server.
When SQL Server runs with all of its components in one server, only one Active Passive
license is required.
However, if the database is running in one server, Analysis Services on a
second, and Reporting Services on a third, then three licenses are required.

with SA

If organizations have used SQL Server 2017 licenses with SA

to license workloads in the cloud, then they may fail-over to
another instance in the cloud. On-premises workloads may
LICENSING SQL 2017 FOR VIRTUALIZATION AND CONTAINERS not fail-over to the cloud using this benefit.

Server/CAL Editions LICENSE MOBILITY

Assign a SQL Server 2017 Server All SQL Server 2017 licenses purchased with Software Assurance have
license to each virtual machine or License Mobility rights.
container running SQL Server 2017 SQL Standard
Server licenses • License Mobility across Server Farms allows licenses to be
moved between servers within a server farm as often as required,
Core Editions supporting a virtualized environment where virtual machines
License the virtual processors used by frequently move between physical servers
the virtual machines, with a minimum • License Mobility through Software Assurance allows an
of 4 Core licenses per virtual machine organization to license SQL Server 2017 in virtual machines on
or container third party shared servers or Azure. Licenses are assigned to these
SQL Standard or virtual machines following the usual virtualization licensing rules
Enterprise Core (see left)
licenses
ADDITIONAL SQL 2017 SA BENEFITS
SQL 2017 Enterprise Core ADDITIONAL SQL 2017 SA BENEFITS
Virtualization Rights • Step-up Licenses
Licensing all the physical cores Step-up Licenses
o Step-up licenses may be purchased for
SQL Enterprise gives rights to run SQL Server Step-up licenses may be purchased
Core licenses in one virtual machine or Standard Core for Standard
licenses CoreSA
with licenses
to with
SA to move to Enterprise Core licenses
container per Core license move to Enterprise Core licenses
Power BI Report Server
• Power BI Report Server
Unlimited Virtualization
License all the physical cores Enterprise o licenses
Core with SACore
Enterprise include the rightswith
licenses to runSAPower BI
with Enterprise Edition Core Report Server on include
a licensedthe
server to generate data
rights to run Power BI visualizations
licenses with Software
Assurance Machine Learning Report
Server for Server
Hadoop on a licensed server to
SQL Enterprise Core Each Enterprise Core license with SAvisualizations
generate data allows the running of Machine
licenses with SA • Machine
Learning Server forLearning
Hadoop onServer
up to fivefor Hadoop
servers for advanced
analytics o Each Enterprise Core license with SA
Further Microsoft Licensing handouts and exams: GetLicensingReady.com
allows the running of Machine
Learning Server for Hadoop on up to
© 2017 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft provides this material solely for informational purposes. Details may vary by five servers for advanced analytics
geography.
MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT. v18.20