SQL Server licensing on VMware

Question

I have read the SQL Server 2022 licensing guide a thousand times, and still have a couple of questions. Who has the right answers?

When a company runs SQL Server EE on VMware, or any other hypervisor, it is possible to license the SQL Server VMs with physical core licenses on the hosts. Does every host, in a server farm, need licenses? Or is it possible to buy licenses for a number of host, when SQL Servers always runs on the selected hosts?

The licensing guide describes active – passive configurations? To me it looks like that can only be done with virtual core licenses, or is it possible to move physical core licenses from a host in DC A to a host in DC B when the VMs on the host move from active to passive and vice versa?

When is a VM that runs Always On passive? When it only contains secondary replicas and the secondary replicas can not be used to read data? Or is a secondary replica always considered being active?

Answer 1

This is a technical forum, and licensing questions are not technical. You cannot expect any authoritative answers here. You would need to talk to a Microsoft licensing specialist.

The one question I feel confident to answer is the last one:

When is a VM that runs Always On passive? When it only contains secondary replicas and the secondary replicas can not be used to read data? Or is a secondary replica always considered being active?

If you have a readable secondary, the machine it runs on must be fully licensened. A passive node is one that can't be used at all.

Although, this may change a little bit if you have Software Assurance, as it comes with some freebees. (Overall, my impression is that Software Assurance pays off.)

Answer 2

Every VMWare VM which hosts Sqlserver 2022 needs a license. The VM license has been upgraded to be based on the number of VM cores rather than the host hardware core count. There is a minimum 4 core requirement. So even if your VM is only allocated 2 cores, you need 4 core pack.

if you have a Software Assurance, then you may qualify for a free passive license. You will need to check your configuration qualifies with MS licensing.

Answer 3

Thanks for trying to answer my questions. I am going to try to find a licensing specialist. They must be somewhere.

A Microsoft licensing expert can provide an authoritative answer to your licensing questions.

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