SQL 2012 Per Core Licensing

Pigeon_Killer · 21 May 2015 at 17:54

We're going through an MS audit at the moment and I need some clarification about licensing for SQL.

We have a Dell R720 which has two physical processors with 8 cores each. This server is one of our virtual servers and has 4 cores assigned to our SQL VM, no more no less. We have an OEM 4 core SQL license from Dell and my understanding, having spoken to MS previously, was this license covered us. The auditor however expects us to produce a license for all 16 cores

One of us is wrong so if anyone's licensed per core I would really like to know what your understanding of this licensing model is.

Thanks

Pigeon_Killer · 21 May 2015 at 18:08

Thanks

Our MS rep originally said that, Dell said that and the installer said that. Our last audit took less than 6 weeks but this has been going on for 6 months and MS are getting more and more aggressive with each email.

Short of sending them their own licensing PDF I'm not sure what I can do because they're adamant we're under licensed

Pigeon_Killer · 27 May 2015 at 11:23

That's all right dude

As it turns out we're only using two cores (4 threads) so I've responded to MS asking why they expect us to license our entire server when their own licensing guidelines suggest this isn't required.

Don't expect a favourable answer because information we provided back in February has repeatedly been overlooked and requested for over and over again so I might just ask to speak to someone in the licensing department instead.

Pigeon_Killer · 1 Jun 2015 at 17:27

Heard back from MS again today and their stance hasn't changed....

You have to license all physical cores within the SQL server hence why this is 16. You have 16 cores.

Can someone have a look over the following article, specifically the part about virtualization, and let me know if it does mean exactly how it reads because my manager is now after my blood

http://blogs.technet.com/b/uspartne...ncise-sql-server-2012-licensing-overview.aspx

Individual Virtual Machines

As server hardware gets more powerful, it will become more common for each database to use just a fraction of its server’s computing power.

When deploying databases on Virtual Machines (VMs) that use just a fraction of a physical server, savings can be achieved by licensing individual VMs.

To license a VM with core licenses, customers can simply buy a core license for each virtual core allocated to the virtual machine (minimum of 4 core licenses per VM).

Pigeon_Killer · 1 Jun 2015 at 23:05

Thanks

I've done all I can with MS so I'll see how my manager deals with me before continuing the fight

Pigeon_Killer · 4 Jun 2015 at 16:36

I've finally won :cool:

MS on 04/06/2015 said:
I think that the issue is you didn’t specify that these were virtual installs. We have assumed this to be a physical install.

Me on 30/04/2015 said:
SQL runs on a virtual guest and only uses 2 cores so the license we provided in the attached spreadsheet should cover us completely.

Glad it's over but it's concerning how much of the information I provided in the original audit spreadsheet was overlooked by MS. I'd imagine a lot of people would've assumed they were in the wrong and bought more licenses :mad:

Pigeon_Killer · 18 Jun 2015 at 17:56

Ok, it's not over. They've overlooked the information I've provided for our SQL license for a 4th time...

Please could you provide your LOP response ASAP?

This is now very overdue and will be escalated if we don’t have a response from you soon.

I've got no idea who they will escalate it to so I'm not sure if it's wise to suggest they do it or not. The level of incompetence shown by MS is embarrassing.