I have 30 vms in a cluster which has 4 nodes (Host) with each node 24 cores. Can anyone please tell how to license this cluster.

Some general info Each host needs to be licensed. A minimum of 8 core licenses is required for each physical processor and a minimum of 16 core licenses is required for each server. Core licenses are sold in packs of two. Standard Edition provides rights for up to 2 Operating System Environments or Windows Servers containers with Hyper-V isolation when all physical cores in the server are licensed. For each additional 1 or 2 VMs, all the physical cores in the server must be licensed again. DataCenter Edition provides rights for unlimited Operating System Environments or Windows Servers containers with Hyper-V isolation when all physical cores in the server are licensed. For clusters each host should be licensed for the max number of VMs that could be on it at any given time. http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/D/4/3D42BDC2-6725-4B29-B75A-A5B04179958B/WindowsServer2016VirtualTech_VLBrief.pdf --please don't forget to close up the thread here by marking answer if the reply is helpful--

Windows Server Licensing in Cluster

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Anonymous

2023-10-18T12:18:32.3266667+00:00
Some general info

Each host needs to be licensed.

A minimum of 8 core licenses is required for each physical processor and a minimum of 16 core licenses is required for each server.

Core licenses are sold in packs of two.

Standard Edition provides rights for up to 2 Operating System Environments or Windows Servers containers with Hyper-V isolation when all physical cores in the server are licensed. For each additional 1 or 2 VMs, all the physical cores in the server must be licensed again.

DataCenter Edition provides rights for unlimited Operating System Environments or Windows Servers containers with Hyper-V isolation when all physical cores in the server are licensed.

For clusters each host should be licensed for the max number of VMs that could be on it at any given time. http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/D/4/3D42BDC2-6725-4B29-B75A-A5B04179958B/WindowsServer2016VirtualTech_VLBrief.pdf

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Katari, Sree Vishnu 41 Reputation points

2023-10-18T12:24:28.59+00:00

Hello @Anonymous when you say "For clusters each host should be licensed for the max number of VMs that could be on it at any given time" so in my scenario where i have 30vms running on a cluster which means do i need to license 30 vms for each host in the cluster or do i license based on the max number vms based on the capacity of the host?

Anonymous

2023-10-18T12:47:23.3633333+00:00

The max that you will potentially run on each host. From the doc;

Clustering, failing over, and moving instances

In addition to understanding foundational licensing concepts mentioned above, it is helpful to understand how

software is typically deployed and used. Two common scenarios for higher availability and dynamic

datacenters involve:

- Running the same workload simultaneously on two servers, or

- Running a workload on a primary server and periodically moving it to a second server due to a failure,

load balancing, patching, or planned downtime.

In both scenarios, regardless of whether the workloads are running in physical or virtual operating system

environments (or OSEs), each server must have the appropriate number of licenses assigned to it prior to

the workload running on it. This holds true regardless of whether you plan the workload to:

- Always run on a single server.

- Run in parallel on the server as a backup when the primary server fails.

- Run the workload if the primary server is down.

- Load balance when the primary server has high use.

- Only run the workload during maintenance.

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Anonymous

2023-10-19T12:16:47.2733333+00:00

Just checking if there's any progress or updates?

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Windows Server Licensing in Cluster

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