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Q175276: Licensing Policy Implementation with MSCS

Article: Q175276
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): winnt:4.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbsetup
Last Modified: 09-AUG-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition version 4.0 
- Microsoft Cluster Server 
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SUMMARY
=======

The following article discusses the licensing considerations when you deploy
Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS).

MORE INFORMATION
================

Each application vendor must determine its own licensing policies for
applications running on Microsoft Cluster Server clusters.

The current policy for server application licensing provided by Microsoft applies
to MSCS clusters: an application must be separately licensed for each server on
which it is installed.

Per-Seat Licensing
------------------

If the customer is using per-seat Client Access Licenses (CALs) for the
application, those licenses apply when a client is accessing the application on
either server in the cluster.

Per-Server Licensing
--------------------

If the customer is using per-server (or concurrent use) Client Access Licenses
for the application, each computer in the cluster should have a sufficient
number of per-server Client Access Licenses for the expected peak load of the
application on that computer

For example, if both nodes of a cluster were running Microsoft SQL Server
Enterprise Edition, the following licenses are needed to install a SQL Server
based MSCS implementation:

- Two fully licensed nodes of Windows NT 4.0 Server, Enterprise Edition or two
  licensed Windows 2000 Advanced servers.

- Two licensed copies of SQL Server Enterprise 6.5 or 7.0. (Two SQL server
  licenses are required even if only one instance of the server is run at a
  time in active-passive mode and four licenses are required for an
  Active-Active configuration).

- SQL Server Client Access Licenses (CAL?s). Both the nodes of the cluster must
  be licensed even if only one node at a time is being run as in active passive
  mode. In an environment running in per-server mode, MSCS does not transfer
  CAL?s from one node to the other in the event of a fail over. Separate CAL?S
  have to be purchased for each node even if the clients connect only to one
  virtual server. However, a cluster does not affect per-seat licensing.

- Depending on the network library used for connecting to the SQL server,
  separate CAL?s might be needed.

  If using Named Pipes, an Windows NT 4.0/Windows 2000 CAL is needed for each
  client as Windows NT 4.0/Windows 2000 authenticates these connections
  directly.

  or

  If using TCP/IP sockets, Windows NT 4.0/Windows 2000 CAL?s for each client are
  not needed because Windows NT 4.0/Windows 2000 does not authenticate these
  connections directly.

In a scenario where 50 users want to connect to a Virtual SQL Server using Named
Pipes as default Network Library the following are the total licenses needed:

- Two licenses each for Windows NT 4.0 / Windows 2000 Server and SQL Server.

- 100 SQL Server Client Access Licenses (50 for each node).

- 100 NT CAL?s (50 for each node).

In the same above scenario if we connect to an Virtual SQL Server with TCP/IP
sockets as the default network library, then for 50 users we need:

- Two licenses each for SQL Server and Windows NT 4.0 / Windows 2000 Servers.

- 100 SQL Server Client Access licenses (50 for each node).

- 2 Windows NT 4.0/Windows 2000 CAL?s one for each node.

NOTE: Per-server Client Access Licenses do not failover from one computer in the
cluster to the other.

Cluster Server Licensing
------------------------

In a Cluster Server cluster, if an application runs on both servers, or even if
it only runs on one server at a time but must be installed on both servers to
permit failover, the application must be licensed for both servers. Thus, MSCS
is licensed per server.

Client licensing is covered under the Microsoft Windows NT Server licensing
agreement.

Additional query words: MSCS SQL VSS

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Keywords          : kbsetup 
Technology        : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNT400search kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTSEntSearch kbWinNTSEnt400 kbWinNTS400search kbAudDeveloper kbClustServSearch
Version           : winnt:4.0

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