{"id":13788,"date":"2012-11-14T18:59:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-14T18:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/?p=13788"},"modified":"2012-11-14T18:59:00","modified_gmt":"2012-11-14T18:59:00","slug":"windows-8-vda-licensing-for-vdi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/?p=13788","title":{"rendered":"Windows 8 VDA Licensing For VDI"},"content":{"rendered":"
I won\u2019t be answering any questions on this post.  If you have any questions then ask your reseller, LAR, or distributor (if you are a reseller) \u2013 that\u2019s what you pay them for.  The other important note that this post is correct (or as correct as I can verify) based on how things are at this time (written on 14\/Nov\/2012).<\/em><\/div>\n
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Microsoft has made some great improvements with licensing.  Windows Server licensing is simple, and virtualisation has been simplified no end \u2013 those of you who disagree with the latter really need to stop overthinking things because it is <\/em>simple.  Windows 8 started out great too; a nice small set of SKUs.  But then they started figuring out licensing for virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and Windows To Go \u2026 and this stuff is a mess.  Start reading and you\u2019ll soon see why I\u2019m redirecting everyone to bring their their unique scenarios and questions to their reseller\/LAR\/distributor.  I just don\u2019t have the time.<\/div>\n
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One thing that didn\u2019t change was the need for VDA (Virtual Desktop Access) in some form.  You cannot just buy a copy of Windows XP\/Vista\/7\/8, install it in a VM, and let people have at it.  You need to license your VDI client devices<\/em> with VDA (in some form), and that\u2019s what has changed.<\/div>\n
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There are a number of scenarios, depending on the client device:<\/div>\n
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Windows PCs<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
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There are two ways to license this:<\/div>\n
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  1. You attach Software Assurance (SA) to company PCs using Windows 8 Pro. This gives you Windows 8 Enterprise and the many benefits of Software Assurance.  This includes VDA. <\/li>\n
  2. You do not attach SA to your PCs.  This might be because you don\u2019t want to buy SA, or because the client PCs are the users\u2019 home PCs.  In this case, you have to buy VDA for each VDI client device. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    Company Owned<\/em> Windows RT Tablets As Companion Devices<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
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    This is where:<\/div>\n
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