SQL Server Per-Core Licensing + Bizspark

Question

In 2016 my company graduated from BizSpark, and we got a licensing grant to use SQL Server. It says "2 licenses for SQL Server® Standard Edition (core license)" in my license grant document. As far as I understand, licensing for SQL server is core-based (you need to purchase a license based on number of cores on the server). My question is: how many cores does this license grant cover? because on Microsoft website (and all resellers) one SQL server core licenses are sold ins "2-packs", meaning that by buying 1 "Standard - per core" license the company receives the license to run SQL Server on 2 cores. So I need clarification about our licensing grant - when it says "2 licences" - does it mean 2 cores or 4 cores? This is important, because we plan to upgrade our server to a 4-core processor, and I need to make sure if it's covered by the license. Let me know if something that I said doesn't make sense, this is not my area of expertise.

Also, I contacted microsoft support and the support person told me that it's "likely 4 cores" but they weren't 100% sure. They said it's based on page 5 of this document https://download.microsoft.com/download/3/D/4/3D42BDC2-6725-4B29-B75A-A5B04179958B/PerCoreLicensing_Definitions_VLBrief.pdf

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

The tag [sql-server-general] indicates that this is a zone for SQL Server issues, but it is more about technical issues.

For detailed information about the license issue, please call 1-800-426-9400, Monday to Friday, 6:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. (Pacific Time) to directly speak to a Microsoft licensing specialist. For international customers, please use the https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/worldwide to find contact information.