Windows Tip Sheet
R2W3: Virtually Licensed
Week 3 of Don's Windows Server 2003 R2 Month.
Until recently, Microsoft hasn't been all that clear or consistent on
product licensing when it comes to virtual computing. Before they bought Virtual
PC from Connectix, the general policy was that you needed to buy a license for
every Windows OS you installed, even if half of them were on virtual machines
you rarely actually ran. With the release of Windows Server 2003 R2, licensing
has become a lot more sensible and it's worth a close look at how it can
make virtual computing easier and cheaper.
For starters, every copy of Win2003 R2 Enterprise Edition allows you to run
up to four virtual machines, each running the same OS, with no additional licenses.
So, buy the license for the host machine and you get the four virtual machines
at no extra charge.
Additionally, when running Virtual Server 2005 R2 (which is now available),
you now only need to purchase licenses for virtual machines which are actually
running. So if you have eight machines configured, but only four ever run
at once, you only need to cover those four licenses. In the past, each of those
four licenses needed to cover the number of CPU sockets in the host machine:
If the Virtual Server box had four sockets, each virtual machine needed a four-socket
license. Now, virtual machine licenses only need to be for the number of virtual
CPUs assigned to that virtual machine, regardless of how many sockets the underlying
physical hardware sports.
What I bet you're going to see someday is something built into Virtual
Server (and maybe even Virtual PC) to help you manage this: You tell it how
many licenses you own for various Windows versions, and it'll help you
keep track of how many are running, possibly warning you if you're running
virtual machines that don't have an available license. Regardless, these
new, more lenient licensing terms are a huge boon for server consolidation efforts.
Additional Resources:
About the Author
Don Jones is a multiple-year recipient of Microsoft’s MVP Award, and is Curriculum Director for IT Pro Content for video training company Pluralsight. Don is also a co-founder and President of PowerShell.org, a community dedicated to Microsoft’s Windows PowerShell technology. Don has more than two decades of experience in the IT industry, and specializes in the Microsoft business technology platform. He’s the author of more than 50 technology books, an accomplished IT journalist, and a sought-after speaker and instructor at conferences worldwide. Reach Don on Twitter at @concentratedDon, or on Facebook at Facebook.com/ConcentratedDon.