SQL Server Licensing Quantity Calculation

Question

My company currently possesses SQL Server licenses as follows:

1. SQL Server 2016 Standard + 5 User CAL (Software A in use) (Host A WIN7)
2. SQL Server 2017 Standard + 5 User CAL (Software B in use) (Host B WIN7)
3. SQL Server 2017 Standard + 10 User CAL (Never used)
4. No Software Assurance (SA) for any licenses

The company wishes to deactivate Software A and Software B, and instead purchase an integrated Software C. Estimated usage for Software C is 30 users, including users from Software A and Software B. The company aims to maximize the utilization of existing licenses and plans to install SQL Server 2016 Standard.

Q1: Does this mean we only need to purchase 30-5-5-10=10 sets of SQL Server 2022 User CAL? Or is there a one-to-one correspondence between User CAL and Server, meaning, for example, even if we have 5 sets of 2017 User CAL, if these 5 sets have already been used for the SQL 2017 server, can they not be used to connect to another SQL 2016 server?

Additionally, the company currently has:

1. Windows Server 2019 Standard licenses for 16 Cores (2 sets) + 20 User CAL (Never used)
2. Host C with dual CPUs (XEON 4110 8 Core 16 thread * 2)
3. Host D with a single CPU (XEON E-2388G 8 Core 16 thread)
4. Virtualization software VMware vSphere ESXi (licenses for 3 physical hosts)

We are considering installing VMware vSphere ESXi on Host C and installing Windows Server 2019 Standard and SQL Server 2016 Standard on it. Additionally, we hope to use Host D (which will have VMware ESXi installed) as a backup. If at any time SQL Server 2016 Standard/Windows Server 2019 Standard will only operate on Host C or Host D (meaning only one instance of SQL Server 2016 Standard/Windows Server 2019 Standard will be in operation at any given time)...

Q2: How many sets of SQL Server 2016 Standard licenses are needed?

If there are relevant reference materials for us to read first, please provide them as well. Thank you.

Answer 1

This is a technical forum and this is not where you can get authoritative answers about legal and commercial matters. You will need to talk to your local Microsoft representative. You can also call (1-800-426-9400), Monday through Friday, 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM PST to speak directly to Microsoft licensing specialist.

What I can say from a technical perspective is that SQL 2016 is out of mainstream support, and you should aim at installing SQL Server 2022. If the software C that you are considering does not support later versions of SQL Server than SQL 2016, you should not buy it, because very apparently that vendor is not investing in its product anymore, which means that it can be obsolete in just a few years.

I can also recommend Software Assurance. It tends to pay off in the long term.

Answer 2

Hi @Henry Tsai,

This is a community forum for technical questions & issues.

For question regarding pricing / licensing please contact a Microsoft sales partner or licensing expert.

Call (1-800-426-9400), Monday through Friday, 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM PST to speak directly to Microsoft licensing specialist.

Regards，

Zoe Hui

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