Thank you for the clear explanation on core count to licenses. Additionally though, it is my understanding that I will also require CAL licenses and this is the confusing part for me. If I have 20 users that I want to support connecting to a server via remote desktop from their personal laptops, but only 3 concurrently, Do I need to purchase 3 CAL licenses or 20? And is there an additional remote desktop license to go with that? *pulling out my hair*
Thanks for watching! I need to get up to speed on Windows Server licensing with Azure. It's not something I've had to handle in my day-to-day work; thus, I haven't found the time to research it. I would imagine if you were to deploy a server from Azure's market place the license cost is baked into the price (not the CALs, the actual server license), but I'm not 100% sure. As var as vCPUs for a VM residing on your own hypervisor, that doesn't matter. You're always licensing the physical cores on the host itself, and then whichever license you choose, standard or datacenter, determines how many Windows Server VMs you're allowed to deply.
Thank you so much Eddie for this informative video, it cleared most of my doubts regarding core licensing. However in the last example, there should be 5 16-packs needed instead 2+ 4 two packs, correct me if i am wrong? As core licenses required is 80 and when you divide 80 by 16 you get 5 16 packs. Thank you.
Alas, a math error. A while back I added a note to the video description with a correction. I appreciate the feedback though. Glad to see my viewers keeping me accountable :)
Thank you Eddie for the explanation. What if I am running Nutanix which is an HCI platform. It consists of three hosts in one cluster. I have 2 processors per server and 8 core per processor. So in total i have 6 processors and 48 cores. If i want to run 15 windows servers on this cluster, my understanding is that I would need to buy licenses for 48 cores and then buy datacenter instead of standard to run unlimited VM’s is this correct?
Thanks for watching. I (unfortunately) haven't been in an environment that uses HCI. My initial thought is each individual host is considered for Windows Server licensing (just like a traditional environment where separate hypervisor boxes are in a cluster). Thus, you'd need 48 cores of Data Center licensing, since each of you three servers happens to match the minimum of 16 cores per server. So assuming my understanding is still correct, you are right. I'm unsure what the sweet spot is now for when the math makes sense to move from Standard to Data Center when just considering the number of VMs, but that would be easy to calculate from some quotes from your reseller. I seem to remember it was in the teens years ago. I'd recommending digging into this, www.microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/product-licensing/windows-server, and comparing what you find with what you reseller tells you about licensing and being in an HCI environment. The more I dig into the RHEL, Ubuntu, and $insert_distro_here world, the less time I've had to keep up with Windows server licensing.
You are exactly right, and thanks for catching the error! To cover 80 cores, you'd need five 16-packs. I think I must've looked at the number of 2-core packs (40) and made the mental mistake of calculating the number of 16-packs for 40 cores.
@Eric Wood Thanks for subscribing :) Math on the cores isn't too tough (unless you made the error I did above). Where it gets complicated is with things like Azure hybrid benefit and all of that. One day, I'll take the time to dive into that stuff and make sense of it.
Hi Eddie, great explanation, however, what exactly should we consider first- would it be per core licensing or the per server licensing? If we see, what we are considering is per core licensing. My question here is if we are considering core licensing, why does Microsoft require 16 core licenses per server (since we are doing all calculations and math by taking into consideration per processor core licensing) ?
Hey there, what if i'm intending to use Windows Server 2022 on a i9 processor 24 core, not running any VM or anything, a simple Archive and AD Server. Would I need the 16 License + 4x 2 Core licenses?
The short answer is "yes," though I'd have to refer to documentation about whatever the current minimum number of cores are required for licensing. A quick consult with Dr. Google found this wwlpdocumentsearch.blob.core.windows.net/prodv2/Licensing_guide_PLT_Windows_Server_2022_Oct2022.pdf Even if you're just running a domain controller, I'd still virtualize it. Generally you only want to run a hypervisor on the bare metal. I remember Windows Server Standard used to allow for two Windows Sever VMs. That guide I linked will likely contain what virtualization rights, you'd have.
I am not familiar with VMWare's licensing model, but if those VMs are Windows Server, you'll need to buy enough Windows Server licenses to cover the physical cores. Such as if you have 4 Windows Server VMs on that one physical host, you'd need two Server Standard licenses to have rights to 4 VMs. So you'd need to purchase the number of core licenses to cover your physical machine twice.
Even if the server you're licensing has a single 10-core processor, you still have to purchase the minimum number of core licenses, which I think is still 16 cores. You'd want to check with Microsoft documentation to make sure.
Hi Eddie, the explanation is very helpful, thank you. How about licensing on this scenario, I have an existing VM host with VMWare EXSi, 2 CPU (20 core each) and I want to have 2 VM guest running Windows Server 2019. How many core licenses do I need?
From what I understand, it sounds like you have 40 total cores: thus, that would be the number you need to license. You’d want to verify this with your reseller and Microsoft’s documentation about Server 2019 Standard licensing.
The answer depends on the number of VMs you'll be running and if you need some of the features of the Data Center edition. I'd get pricing from your reseller for Standard and Data Center and do the math. Eventually, you'll get to a number of VMs (it was 13 many years ago) to where it no longer makes sense to keep stacking Standard licenses, and you'd change to Data Center.
Thank you for the clear explanation on core count to licenses. Additionally though, it is my understanding that I will also require CAL licenses and this is the confusing part for me. If I have 20 users that I want to support connecting to a server via remote desktop from their personal laptops, but only 3 concurrently, Do I need to purchase 3 CAL licenses or 20? And is there an additional remote desktop license to go with that? *pulling out my hair*
Thank you Eddi,
Please have a session on vCUPS, how to cover licensing on vCPUs, and if licenses are to be deployed in Azure
Thanks for watching! I need to get up to speed on Windows Server licensing with Azure. It's not something I've had to handle in my day-to-day work; thus, I haven't found the time to research it. I would imagine if you were to deploy a server from Azure's market place the license cost is baked into the price (not the CALs, the actual server license), but I'm not 100% sure.
As var as vCPUs for a VM residing on your own hypervisor, that doesn't matter. You're always licensing the physical cores on the host itself, and then whichever license you choose, standard or datacenter, determines how many Windows Server VMs you're allowed to deply.
Thank you so much Eddie for this informative video, it cleared most of my doubts regarding core licensing. However in the last example, there should be 5 16-packs needed instead 2+ 4 two packs, correct me if i am wrong?
As core licenses required is 80 and when you divide 80 by 16 you get 5 16 packs.
Thank you.
That's correct. 5 16 Packs are needed in the last example
Alas, a math error. A while back I added a note to the video description with a correction. I appreciate the feedback though. Glad to see my viewers keeping me accountable :)
Thank you Eddie for the explanation. What if I am running Nutanix which is an HCI platform. It consists of three hosts in one cluster. I have 2 processors per server and 8 core per processor. So in total i have 6 processors and 48 cores. If i want to run 15 windows servers on this cluster, my understanding is that I would need to buy licenses for 48 cores and then buy datacenter instead of standard to run unlimited VM’s is this correct?
Thanks for watching. I (unfortunately) haven't been in an environment that uses HCI. My initial thought is each individual host is considered for Windows Server licensing (just like a traditional environment where separate hypervisor boxes are in a cluster). Thus, you'd need 48 cores of Data Center licensing, since each of you three servers happens to match the minimum of 16 cores per server. So assuming my understanding is still correct, you are right.
I'm unsure what the sweet spot is now for when the math makes sense to move from Standard to Data Center when just considering the number of VMs, but that would be easy to calculate from some quotes from your reseller. I seem to remember it was in the teens years ago.
I'd recommending digging into this, www.microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/product-licensing/windows-server, and comparing what you find with what you reseller tells you about licensing and being in an HCI environment. The more I dig into the RHEL, Ubuntu, and $insert_distro_here world, the less time I've had to keep up with Windows server licensing.
Hi, The last math calc should not be 5 - 16pack needed? thanks
You are exactly right, and thanks for catching the error! To cover 80 cores, you'd need five 16-packs. I think I must've looked at the number of 2-core packs (40) and made the mental mistake of calculating the number of 16-packs for 40 cores.
@Eric Wood Thanks for subscribing :) Math on the cores isn't too tough (unless you made the error I did above). Where it gets complicated is with things like Azure hybrid benefit and all of that. One day, I'll take the time to dive into that stuff and make sense of it.
Hi Eddie, great explanation, however, what exactly should we consider first- would it be per core licensing or the per server licensing? If we see, what we are considering is per core licensing. My question here is if we are considering core licensing, why does Microsoft require 16 core licenses per server (since we are doing all calculations and math by taking into consideration per processor core licensing) ?
Thanks for watching. :) I think your questions would be best answered with a follow-up video. I'll post a link to it here when it's complete. :)
Hey there, what if i'm intending to use Windows Server 2022 on a i9 processor 24 core, not running any VM or anything, a simple Archive and AD Server. Would I need the 16 License + 4x 2 Core licenses?
The short answer is "yes," though I'd have to refer to documentation about whatever the current minimum number of cores are required for licensing. A quick consult with Dr. Google found this wwlpdocumentsearch.blob.core.windows.net/prodv2/Licensing_guide_PLT_Windows_Server_2022_Oct2022.pdf
Even if you're just running a domain controller, I'd still virtualize it. Generally you only want to run a hypervisor on the bare metal. I remember Windows Server Standard used to allow for two Windows Sever VMs. That guide I linked will likely contain what virtualization rights, you'd have.
How about licensing on VMWare multiple VM's, having one physical Server and One physical 16 core CPU.
I am not familiar with VMWare's licensing model, but if those VMs are Windows Server, you'll need to buy enough Windows Server licenses to cover the physical cores. Such as if you have 4 Windows Server VMs on that one physical host, you'd need two Server Standard licenses to have rights to 4 VMs. So you'd need to purchase the number of core licenses to cover your physical machine twice.
Hello sir ,
I have 10 core xeon processor so which licence I need to buy microsoft windows server 2 core or 16 core license pack
Even if the server you're licensing has a single 10-core processor, you still have to purchase the minimum number of core licenses, which I think is still 16 cores. You'd want to check with Microsoft documentation to make sure.
Hi Eddie, the explanation is very helpful, thank you.
How about licensing on this scenario,
I have an existing VM host with VMWare EXSi, 2 CPU (20 core each) and I want to have 2 VM guest running Windows Server 2019. How many core licenses do I need?
From what I understand, it sounds like you have 40 total cores: thus, that would be the number you need to license. You’d want to verify this with your reseller and Microsoft’s documentation about Server 2019 Standard licensing.
I have a 32 Core CPU, I am trying to figure out which Windows Server 2022 Edition I should purchase, thank you
The answer depends on the number of VMs you'll be running and if you need some of the features of the Data Center edition. I'd get pricing from your reseller for Standard and Data Center and do the math. Eventually, you'll get to a number of VMs (it was 13 many years ago) to where it no longer makes sense to keep stacking Standard licenses, and you'd change to Data Center.
Thank you.
You're welcome. Thanks for watching!