Licensing Microsoft Windows Server

Sidebar: Licensing Considerations for Hyper-V Server
Chart: Licensing Clients for Windows Server Access
Chart: Windows Server 2008 Edition Comparison
Sidebar: CALs and External Connectors

Monday, 15 September 2008

Licensing Windows Server explains how to license the Windows OS for servers, and how to license clients to use those servers. It outlines the various editions of Windows Server OS licenses, their costs, their technical differences, and how they may be used in systems with hardware virtualization. The chapter also presents the required license types and costs for PCs and other clients that access services of Windows Server. The report focuses on organizations buying and using Windows licenses for their own employees; it does not cover rules for manufacturers who redistribute Windows with their products, nor for hosting providers who run Windows installations on behalf of subscribers. The report covers licensing of OSs, not desktop or server applications, which must be licensed separately.

This report is part of a larger series of Directions on Microsoft Licensing Outlines and should be used in connection with the Directions on Microsoft Enterprise Software Roadmap.

Sections in the Licensing Microsoft Windows Client and Server Report:

Introduction: Licensing Windows Server for use within an organization is generally straightforward. However, virtualized scenarios add licensing complexity.

Server Editions: Windows Server 2008 is available in five different editions.

Virtualization Considerations: The use of hardware virtualization on Windows Servers creates numerous challenges.

Client Licensing Consideratons

In addition to server licenses (or per-processor licenses in the case of Datacenter Edition), all editions of Windows Server except for Web Edition require clients to be licensed with CALs or External Connectors. Two server features, Terminal Services and Rights Management Services, also require their own CALs.