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Guide to Windows Server Editions and LicensingThe purpose of this guide is to help you find the Windows server and licenses appropriate to your organization's needs. Windows Server is a server operating system that enables a computer to handle network roles such as print server, domain controller, Web server, and file server and to be the platform for separately acquired server applications such as Exchange Server or SQL Server. 2008 and 2003 VersionsMicrosoft offers both the 2008 and the 2003 R2 versions of Windows Server Standard and Enterprise editions through TechSoup Stock in order to allow organizations to select the server operating system that will meet their needs. Generally, Windows Server 2008 is appropriate for organizations that can take advantage of its many enhancements to server management, virtualization, remote access, security and policy enforcement, and its Web and application platforms. In addition, because Windows Server 2008 shares its code base with the Windows Vista system, it is particularly effective and efficient for managing Windows Vista computers. Windows Server 2003 is appropriate for organizations whose server computers don't meet the system requirements for the 2008 version. Windows Server 2008 requires a faster processor, more RAM, and a bigger hard drive for basic operations. Depending on the system configuration, other requirements might also be higher for Windows 2008. Most Microsoft products and technologies are compatible with Windows Server 2008, but some are not currently supported, and others are not planned to be supported. See the Microsoft Supported Applications page for details. EditionsMicrosoft offers Windows Server through TechSoup Stock in the Standard and Enterprise editions for both 2003 and 2008. Microsoft also offers three special-purpose editions for 2008: the Datacenter, Web, and Itanium editions. In general, the Standard Edition is designed for small-to-medium-sized organizations that need no more than one instance of the server software in a virtual operating system. The Enterprise Edition is appropriate for organizations that need a highly dynamic, scalable IT infrastructure or for organizations that would like to deploy up to four instances of Windows Server (any version) in guest virtual machines. The Datacenter Edition is optimized for large-scale virtualization; its license allows one server to run an unlimited number of Windows Server instances. The Web Edition is designed to be used only in Internet-facing Web-serving environments. The Itanium Edition is optimized for the Intel Itanium processor's native 64-bit processing and Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing (EPIC) architecture. LicensingBelow are some of the major licensing requirements for Windows Server. Detailed licensing information can be found in documents you can download from the Microsoft Product Use Rights page:
Licensing is almost identical for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003. See below for the difference in the rights for the Standard Edition operating system license. Server Operating System LicensesStandard Edition:Windows Server 2003 and 2008 have slightly different licensing models for the Standard Edition:
Enterprise Edition:Windows Server 2003 and 2008 have the same operating system licensing models for the Enterprise Edition. With the Enterprise Edition, you are licensed to run, at any one time, one instance of the server software in a physical operating system environment and up to four instances of the server software in virtual operating system environments. You can run earlier versions of the Windows Server operating system, but not later versions, in the virtual environments. However, if you run all five permitted instances at the same time, the instance of the server software running in the physical operating system environment may be used only to run hardware virtualization software and to manage and service operating system environments on the licensed server. Datacenter Edition:Windows Server 2008 Datacenter is licensed by the processor. Licenses include unlimited virtualization rights, meaning you have the use rights to run an unlimited number of virtualized instances of Windows Server on processors licensed with Windows Server 2008 Datacenter without purchasing additional licenses. Web Edition:A server license is required for every running instance of Windows Web Server 2008. However, any type of database software may run on the server software with no limit on the number of users. Web Server may be used solely to deploy Internet-accessible Web pages, Web sites, Web applications, Web services, and POP3 mail serving. It may not be used as a file server or application server. Itanium Edition:Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems is licensed by the processor. Licenses include unlimited virtualization rights, meaning you have the use rights to run an unlimited number of virtualized instances of Windows Server on processors licensed with Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems without purchasing additional licenses. Client Access Licenses (CALs) and External Connector Licenses (ECLs)A Windows Server device or user CAL is required for each user or device accessing or using the server software, with the exception of anonymous Internet users. An example of such an exception would be unidentified users browsing the organization's public Web site. For this reason, no CALs are needed for accessing Windows Web Server 2008. Alternatively, an organization can use a Windows Server ECL for a large number of authenticated external Internet users. An external user is a person who is not an employee (or similar personnel) of the company or its affiliates and is not someone to whom you provide hosted services using the server software. If the server is running Remote Desktop Services, known as Terminal Services before the release of Windows Server 2008 R2, separate Remote Desktop Services CALs or ECLs are required to access the services. Remote Desktop Services allows the remote execution of applications from a wide range of devices over virtually any type of network connection. Windows Remote Desktop Services CALs will permit access to Windows Terminal Services, and Terminal Services CALs that were valid for Windows Server 2008 will still permit access to Windows Remote Desktop Services. If the server is running Rights Management Services (RMS), separate RMS CALs or ECLs are required to access the services. RMS is information-protection technology that works with RMS-enabled applications to help safeguard digital information from unauthorized use. RMS functionality is included in the Windows Server license. Microsoft offers the CALs and ECLs for Windows Server and for Remote Desktop Services through TechSoup Stock. RMS licensing is not available through TechSoup Stock at this time. Server Application LicensesLicenses for server applications — such as SQL Server or Exchange Server — that run on the Windows Server platform are separate. General licensing requirements for server applications offered through TechSoup Stock can be found in the product descriptions. For details, see the Microsoft Product Use Rights documents referenced above. UpgradingYou can use Software Assurance to upgrade the Windows Server operating system and associated licenses for two years after you obtain these products. Using Software Assurance to upgrade directly through Microsoft means that you don't need to request the new version through TechSoup Stock, so it won't count as your one annual Microsoft request allowed through TechSoup Stock. It also won't count as an additional title toward your limit of six titles per two-year period. CALs, ECLs, and management licenses (MLs) work if they are for a version equal to or earlier than their server software. They must be upgraded only for use with newer server software. Therefore, Windows Server CALs obtained from TechSoup Stock between 2003 and 2007 are usable with Windows Server 2000 without using Software Assurance. However, if you upgrade to Windows Server 2008, you will also need to use Software Assurance to upgrade the CALs. CALs, ECLs, and MLs offered through TechSoup Stock are always for the currently offered version. The Windows Server and Remote Desktop Services licenses, including those in the Core CAL suites, apply to Windows Server 2008 and earlier versions. Windows Remote Desktop Services and Windows Terminal Services CALs are interchangeable. For more information, see Microsoft Software Assurance. Windows Server Products Available on TechSoupThe following servers and licenses are in the Windows Server family.
TechSoup Stock also offers other Microsoft products that can be used with Windows Server. |
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