All Microsoft donations you've requested must be downloaded through the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC). Use our VLSC guides to quickly get access to your donations.

• Microsoft Download Help: A VLSC Quick-Start Guide
• How to Get Help with the VLSC
• How to Add Licenses or Individuals to Your VLSC Account
• How to Order Installation Media from Microsoft
• How to Use or Renew Your Software Assurance Benefits
• Software Assurance Benefits Included with Microsoft Donations

When you request a volume license product through TechSoup, you're actually requesting a license, not the product itself. Volume licenses are different from licenses for retail products primarily because they can apply to different versions of the software, can include Software Assurance benefits, and have different product use rights.

For more information, see Licensing Details for Microsoft Donations.

You'll come across four basic licensing models for Microsoft server products.

• Per Core/CAL model: includes core-based licenses for the server and access licenses for users or devices that connect to it.
• Server/CAL model: includes licenses for the server and access licenses for users or devices that connect to it.
• Per Core model: includes only core-based licenses for the server. Access licenses are not required.
• Management Servers model: includes licenses for the server and for servers or nonserver operating systems that are being managed. 

Server operating systems and server applications can run in either physical or virtual operating system environments (OSEs).

For detailed licensing information on individual products and product families, see Microsoft's Product Licensing Search page or TechSoup's Guide to Microsoft Server Licensing.

Dynamics 365 (On-Premises) Server is customer relationship management (CRM) server software that offers tools for storing and analyzing customer records. It is the successor to Dynamics CRM Server and runs on Windows Server.

Dynamics 365 (On-Premises) Server operates under the Server/CAL licensing model. The rights to run Dynamics 365 (On-Premises) Server and certain applications are included with Dynamics 365 (On-Premises) CALs. Server software licenses are not available separately — the only way to obtain the server software is to request one or more Dynamics 365 (On-Premises) CALs.

For more information, see TechSoup's Guide to Dynamics 365 Products and Licensing.

Exchange Server is a server application providing email functionality, group scheduling, discussion groups, team folders, and mobile and web access. It is available in two editions: Standard and Enterprise. The Standard edition allows up to five mailbox databases, while the Enterprise edition allows up to 100.

Exchange server is licensed under the Server/CAL model. Some of Exchange Server's product functionality depends on whether an organization requests Enterprise client access licenses (CALs) in addition to Standard CALs. Both Standard and Enterprise CALs can be used with either server edition, but the Enterprise CALs can be used only in conjunction with Standard CALs.

For more information, see TechSoup's Guide to Exchange Server Editions and Licensing.

SharePoint Server is a server platform for information sharing, collaboration, and content management. You can use it to set up and manage intranet sites or portals.

SharePoint Server is licensed under the Server/CAL model. Some of SharePoint Server's product functionality depends on whether an organization requests Enterprise client access licenses (CALs) in addition to Standard CALs. Enterprise CALs only need to be requested for users or devices that need to access certain additional features.

SharePoint Foundation is a collaboration platform and foundation for building web applications. It is available free of charge from Microsoft. All of the features in SharePoint Foundation are also available in SharePoint Server.

SQL Server is a relational database server application offering tools for data storage, management, analysis, and reporting. It's available in two editions: Standard and Enterprise.

The Standard Edition of SQL Server is available with either Server/CAL or Per Core licensing. The Enterprise Edition is only available with Per Core licensing.

For more information, see TechSoup's Guide to SQL Server Editions and Licensing.

The products in the System Center family help manage physical and virtual information technology environments across datacenters, client computers, and devices.

To use System Center software, you need the appropriate server MLs for the servers being managed or monitored and client MLs for all the end users or devices being managed. Server and client MLs are primarily available through bundled suites.

For more information, see TechSoup's Guide to System Center Products and Licensing.

Windows Server is an operating system that enables a server to handle network roles such as print server, domain controller, web server, and file server. It is also the platform for separately acquired server applications such as Exchange Server or SQL Server. It is available in Standard, Datacenter, and Essentials editions.

The Standard and Enterprise editions of Windows Server use a Per Core/CAL licensing model. Both editions require a minimum of 8 core licenses for each physical processor and a minimum of 16 core licenses for each server. The products offered by TechSoup provide two core licenses. Users or devices require CALs to access the server software.

The Essentials edition supports a maximum of two processors and CALs aren't needed. This means the maximum of 25 users and 50 devices can't be exceeded.

For more information, see TechSoup's Guide to Windows Server Editions and Licensing.