Windows Servers and CAL licensing

Vertigo

Vertigo

Vertigo

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Yes I know, it's a total minefield :(

Got a question which I can't seem to find a definitive answer to.

As I understand it, if I opt to use my CALs in "Per Seat" mode (believe they've renamed it to something else now) then I only need one CAL per user/device connecting to the servers, regardless of how many servers I have.

In other words, if I had 20 users in the office, I'd only need 20 Server 2008 CALs, even if I had two or three actual servers, is this the case?

If so, then if I were to purchase three copies of Server 2008 R2 Standard, each with the minimum of 5 CALs included (don't believe you can buy it with less), then does this mean I have a total of 15 CALs I can use for users to connect to any of these servers?
 
Vertigo1 said:
Yes I know, it's a total minefield :(

Got a question which I can't seem to find a definitive answer to.

As I understand it, if I opt to use my CALs in "Per Seat" mode (believe they've renamed it to something else now) then I only need one CAL per user/device connecting to the servers, regardless of how many servers I have.

In other words, if I had 20 users in the office, I'd only need 20 Server 2008 CALs, even if I had two or three actual servers, is this the case?

If so, then if I were to purchase three copies of Server 2008 R2 Standard, each with the minimum of 5 CALs included (don't believe you can buy it with less), then does this mean I have a total of 15 CALs I can use for users to connect to any of these servers?
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Its call licensing in "per user"

When buying CALs you only need one user cal per person in AD that authenticates with the server.

This is regardless of how many servers you have. Just ensure you have a license for each MS server ;)

Phil
 
PhilipB_OcUk said:
Its call licensing in "per user"
Click to expand...
Well actually there's a lot of confusion here with the terminology. The "per seat/per server" licensing mode is separate from the "user or device CALs" issue. The former choice appears to determine whether you need/have a licence for each user to access any server or (per seat) or licences on each server for the the number of concurrent users of that server (per server). The "per seat" option is most suitable for us as all users will make equal use of all servers. The user/device CALs question is down to whether you licence people or machines and is independent of the per seat/server question as far as I can see.
When buying CALs you only need one user cal per person in AD that authenticates with the server.
Click to expand...
When using the "per seat" mode, this appears to be the case, what I can't find is anything that definitively says I can pool CALs that come from different server purchases.
This is regardless of how many servers you have. Just ensure you have a license for each MS server ;)
Click to expand...
This is the thing - if I buy Server 2008 licences, each comes with a set number of CALs (minimum of 5 I believe). I just can't find anything that definitively says I can pool these CALs for use across all servers.

For example, if I had 15 users and needed three servers, can I buy three copies of Server 2008, each with 5 CALs then, using the per seat mode, pool the CALs to get the full 15 I need to access any of the above three servers.
 
A Server license comes with 5 CAL's.
How you use these CAL's is totally up to you.
If you're buying 3 Server licenses then you've got 15 licenses to do with and distribute how you please.
Distribute those 15 licenses in "Per Seat" mode and each of your 15 users can access each of your 3 servers.

If you need slightly more than 15 CAL's, Server licenses can also be sold with 10 or 25 CAL's and will probably be a slightly cheaper option than buying more CAL's seperately.
 
Vertigo1 said:
Well actually there's a lot of confusion here with the terminology. The "per seat/per server" licensing mode is separate from the "user or device CALs" issue. The former choice appears to determine whether you need/have a licence for each user to access any server or (per seat) or licences on each server for the the number of concurrent users of that server (per server). The "per seat" option is most suitable for us as all users will make equal use of all servers. The user/device CALs question is down to whether you licence people or machines and is independent of the per seat/server question as far as I can see.

When using the "per seat" mode, this appears to be the case, what I can't find is anything that definitively says I can pool CALs that come from different server purchases.

This is the thing - if I buy Server 2008 licences, each comes with a set number of CALs (minimum of 5 I believe). I just can't find anything that definitively says I can pool these CALs for use across all servers.

For example, if I had 15 users and needed three servers, can I buy three copies of Server 2008, each with 5 CALs then, using the per seat mode, pool the CALs to get the full 15 I need to access any of the above three servers.
Click to expand...

Firstly trust me when i say i used to work for a MS Gold Partner as a Licensing Specialist :p

There is no per seat option. You either license in per Device or Per User Mode.

(Per Device when you have more people than Devices)
(Per User when you have more Devices than Users)

Yes it comes with 5 CALS but only in a OEM format. OLP comes with none.

It doesn't say anything about pooling it as its a know fact you can as long as its on the same domain. Ring the microsoft customer support lines and press option 5 for licensing if you want it from the horses mouth.

Phil
 
PhilipB_OcUk said:
Firstly trust me when i say i used to work for a MS Gold Partner as a Licensing Specialist :p

There is no per seat option. You either license in per Device or Per User Mode.
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I'm afraid there is:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/client-licensing.aspx

After you have selected a license type—Windows Device CAL or Windows User CAL, you have the option to use the server software in two different modes: Per User/Per Device mode or Per Server mode. Both modes are available for either type of license.
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The "Per User/Per Device" mode is what used to be called "Per Seat".

From: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/howtobuy/licensing/overview.mspx

New name for Per Seat licensing mode and expanded usage right. The two CAL licensing modes that exist in Windows 2000 Server still exist, but one of the modes has a new name: The Per Seat mode has been changed to the "Per Device or Per User" mode, and Windows User CALs can be applied. The name of the Per Server mode has not changed, and the rights associated with each of the modes have essentially not changed. Per Device or Per User mode is concerned with the total number of devices or users (or a combination of devices and users) accessing the server software across any number of servers, at any time. In this mode, you need a Windows CAL for every device or user that will be accessing Windows Server. In Per Device or Per User mode, only one Windows CAL is needed for any given device or user to access Windows Server, regardless of which servers it is accessing. Per Server mode is concerned with the number of concurrent connections to the server software. You need to purchase Windows CALs for the maximum number of simultaneous connections to that server. Any device or user can access the server, but the number of simultaneous access connections hitting the server at any given time must not exceed the number of Windows CALs designated to that server.
Click to expand...
 
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They've renamed "Per Seat" to "Per User/Per Device" but it's still two distinct choices, as described in the first link.

The "Per User/Per Device versus Per Server" choice determines whether the CALs are applied at the "desktop" or "server" ends respectively.

The "User CAL versus Device CAL" choice determines whether you're licensing people or hardware respectively.

As the first link states: "Both modes are available for either type of license"
The first choice is the "mode" and the second choice is the "type of license". It has always been this way and is still the case in Server 2008.
 
Technically Phil is right, per seat no longer exists as it's now all per device/per user instead. That's what he said above, so he is right :)

The cals you get with a server can be pooled, so 3 server licenses with 5 cals each will give you 15 cals to use how you want.
 
Oh well, we're probably getting caught up on semantics here so let's just leave it at that :)

The pooling of CALs was what I was most concerned about and that does appear to be possible so that's great :)
 
I loathe MS Licensing with a passion.

Even after reading through all the info 5 times over I am left with "Balls, which one was it again" when deploying Server installs. Quite frankly as long as it works and I am licensed on paper I couldn't give a crap what mode it is in.
 
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