Windows Server Licensing in a Hybrid Environment

Question

Hello,

I'm hoping someone can help me out with some Windows Server licensing.

I help out with a company that is currently in a workgroup environment. I have convinced them to switch to a domain environment and trying to put together a price of getting there.

I like the idea of having a domain controller on an Azure VM mostly for redundancy reasons. It's my understanding that the CALS are included in the price and I don't need to purchase any, which is great. My question is, do these CALS carry down to on premise servers? I'm unable to put everything in the cloud as they are in a very remote area and internet isn't the most reliable; so there would be 2 servers on site: a second domain controller and their point of sale system that will run on Windows Server.

The old way of doing things would be that you only had to purchase CALS once and they were good for access to any windows server in the environment. Is this still the case with a domain controller running Azure, or do I still need to purchase CALS for the on premise servers?

Thanks,

Dave

Answer 1

As far as I know you'll still need Windows Cals for your on-premise servers. You could also reach out to your reseller's trained microsoft licensing specialist to discuss your specific needs and requirements.

A Windows Server CAL is a license that grants access Windows Server. CALs are used in conjunction with Microsoft Windows Server OS licenses to allow Users and/or Devices to access and utilize the services of that windows server

• User CALs allow a single user access to Windows Server from an unlimited number of devices
• Device CALs allow an unlimited number of users to access Windows Server from a single device
• CALs are licensed to access servers of the same level and below. (not forward compatible)

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