{"id":15477,"date":"2013-09-11T13:55:00","date_gmt":"2013-09-11T12:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/?p=15477"},"modified":"2015-06-24T12:21:42","modified_gmt":"2015-06-24T12:21:42","slug":"windows-server-2012-r2-licensing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/?p=15477","title":{"rendered":"Windows Server 2012 R2 Licensing"},"content":{"rendered":"

As usual, I am not answering any questions about licensing. That’s the job of your reseller or distributor, so ask them.<\/em><\/p>\n

Microsoft released the updating licensing details for WS2012 R2 several weeks ago.\u00a0 Remember that once released, you will be buying WS2012 R2, even if you plan to downgrade to W2008 R2.\u00a0 In this post, I\u2019m going to cover the licensing for \u201ccore\u201d editions of Windows Server.<\/p>\n

The Core Editions<\/h4>\n

There aren\u2019t any huge changes to the \u201ccore\u201d editions of Windows Server (Datacenter and Standard).\u00a0 As with WS2012, the two editions are identical technically, having the same scalability and features \u2026 except one.<\/p>\n

Processors<\/h4>\n

Both the Standard and Datacenter edition cover a licensed server for 2 processors.\u00a0 Processors are CPUs or sockets.\u00a0 Cores are not processors.\u00a0 A server with 2 Intel Xeon E5 processors with 10 cores each has 2 processors.\u00a0 It requires one Window Server license.\u00a0 A server with 4 * 16 core AMD processors has 4 processors.\u00a0 It needs 2 Windows Server licenses.<\/p>\n

This applies no matter what downgraded version you plan to install.<\/p>\n

Downgrade Rights<\/h4>\n

According to Microsoft:<\/p>\n

If you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter edition you will have the right to downgrade software bits to any prior version or lower edition. If you have Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard edition, you will have the right to downgrade the software to use any prior version of Enterprise, Standard or Essentials editions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The One Technical Feature That Is Unique To Datacenter Edition<\/h4>\n

Technically the Datacenter and Standard editions of WS2012 R2 are identical.\u00a0 With one exception, which is really due to the exceptional virtualization licensing rights granted with the Datacenter edition.<\/p>\n

If you use the Datacenter edition of WS2012 R2 (via any licensing program) for the management OS of your hosts Hyper-V then you get a feature called Automated Virtual Machine Activation (AVMA).\u00a0 With this you get an AVMA key, that you install into your template VMs (guest OS must be WS2012 R2 DC\/Std\/Essentials) using SLMGR.\u00a0 When that template is deployed on to the WS2012 R2 Datacenter hosts, then the guest OS will automatically activate without using KMS or online activation.\u00a0 Very nice for multi-tenant or Network Virtualization-enabled clouds.<\/p>\n

Virtualization Rights<\/h4>\n

Everything in this section applies to Windows Server licensing on all virtualization platforms on the planet outside of the SPLA (hosting) licensing program<\/u><\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 The key difference between Std and DC is the virtualization rights.\u00a0 Any host licensed with DC gets unlimited VOSEs.\u00a0 A VOSE (Virtual Operating System Environment) is licensing speak for a guest OS.\u00a0 In other words:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Say you license a host with the DC edition of Windows Server.<\/li>\n
  2. You can install Windows Server (DC or Std) on an unlimited number of VMs that run on that<\/em> host.<\/li>\n
  3. You cannot transfer those VOSEs (licenses) to another host.<\/li>\n
  4. You can transfer a volume license of DC (or Standard for that matter) once every 90 days to another host.\u00a0 The VOSEs move with that host.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The Standard edition comes with 2 VOSEs.\u00a0 That means you can install the Std edition of Windows Server in two VMs that run on a licensed host:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Say you license a host with the Std edition of Windows Server.<\/li>\n
    2. You can install Windows Server Standard on up to 2 VMs that run on that<\/em> host.<\/li>\n
    3. You cannot transfer those VOSEs (licenses) to another host.<\/li>\n
    4. You can transfer a volume license of Standard (or DC for that matter) once every 90 days to another host.\u00a0 The VOSEs move with that host.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      You can stack Windows Server Standard edition licenses to get more VOSEs on a host:<\/p>\n

        \n
          \n
        1. Say you license a host with 3 copies of the Std edition of Windows Server.\u00a0 This is an accounting operation.\u00a0 You do not install Windows 3 times on the host.\u00a0 You do not install 3 license keys on the host.<\/li>\n
        2. You can install Windows Server Standard on up to 6 (3 Std * 2 VOSEs) VMs that run on that<\/em> host.<\/li>\n
        3. You cannot transfer those VOSEs (licenses) to another host.<\/li>\n
        4. You can transfer a volume license of Standard (or DC for that matter) once every 90 days to another host.\u00a0 The VOSEs move with that host.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/ol>\n

          <\/p>\n

            <\/ol>\n

            There is a sweet spot (different for every program\/region\/price band) where it is cheaper to switch from Std licensing to DC licensing for each host.<\/p>\n

            If you need HA or Live Migration then you license all hosts for the maximum number of VMs that can<\/em><\/u><\/strong> (not will) run on each host, even for 1 second.\u00a0 The simplest solution is to license each host for the DC edition.<\/p>\n

            Upgrade Scenarios<\/h4>\n

            WS2012 CALs do not need an upgrade.\u00a0 WS2012 server licenses require one of the following to be upgraded:<\/p>\n