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jurajfox
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licensing question: Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition

As discussed before you get unlimited virtualization rights with Datacenter:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/news/bulletins/datacenterhighavail.mspx

So basically you get a huge 8 socket box, stick ESX on it and also license Windows 2003 Datacenter for this machine and you don't have to buy anymore Windows licenses for any VMs running on this box.

Has this worked out for anyone, from a financial point of view?

It seems that the basic Windows 2003 Datacenter edition only cost around $3k. I've also heard from our rep that it's licensed per processor.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/howtobuy/licensing/pricing.mspx

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Jasemccarty
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I've got 6 8-way boxes.

We love Datacenter Edition.

The cost is much better.

This link will give you some insight...

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/howtobuy/licensing/calculator.mspx[/b]

Jase McCarty - @jasemccarty

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Jasemccarty
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I've got 6 8-way boxes.

We love Datacenter Edition.

The cost is much better.

This link will give you some insight...

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/howtobuy/licensing/calculator.mspx[/b]

Jase McCarty - @jasemccarty
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jurajfox
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Very cool.... it looks Datacenter it is.

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kbk00
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Has anyone verified this licensing scheme with MS?

If you found this posting to be useful, great. I didn't waste your time.
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Justin_King
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I could be wrong, but I'd look over the legal limitations rather than basing your purchase on the marketing page this is. I'm fairly sure that the unlimited virtualization rule is only legal when dealing with Microsfot Virtual Server and NOT Vmware or other competing products.

I could be off, but I dont think this would fly in an audit.

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jurajfox
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Yeah I just spend a couple hours with our rep and he was the one who brought it up.

Read the official documents I cited.

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jurajfox
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Yeah I think we had this discussion before... basically MS doesn't really want to be in a position to limit virtulization licensing to their product and exclude VMware - all sorta of legal an PR issues would arise.

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Justin_King
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I would cite them as "playing nicely" with a competing product as more unusual then them undercutting via price a competing product, which is more like buisness as usual. Smiley Wink

But I guess I'll have to do some digging.

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kbk00
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Well, I read the docs and just don't believe MS would allow that kind of loophole...

That's why i was hoping there was something official that listed this configuration specifically.

If you found this posting to be useful, great. I didn't waste your time.
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Jasemccarty
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This is absolutely true.

Jase McCarty - @jasemccarty
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dpomeroy
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Its been verified by multiple sources, if you still do want to believe it feel free to pay for each MS OS separately, I'm sure MS wont mind Smiley Happy

jurajfox
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It's not really a loophole - just a different licensing model just like with MS having Open license, retail, enterprise, volume and so on.... just get the one that makes the most sense. I've seen companies save 30% moving from one model to another.

When you look at the pricing with enterprise server it makes sense with about 13 plus windows 2003 VMs... so if you can squeeze more than 13 VMs on your box it's a no brainer.

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Justin_King
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In environemnts that want to blend traditional cluster fault tollerance with VM advantages ... it would take even less than that ...

... very good information!

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kbk00
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Well, I just got off the phone with our MS rep and he verified what everyone else has stated on the thread. Smiley Happy

I have to say I'm really surprised as this will save my company hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next two years. Not bad for an hour or two of forum reading and some phone calls!

Once again this forum has proven its worth!

Anyway, as a side note, I'm getting the official word on how Software Assurance works in this scenario... I'll post what I have heard.

If you found this posting to be useful, great. I didn't waste your time.
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jurajfox
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Yeah I heard about this a while back from our MS rep right around when Server 2003 R2 came out but totally forgot about it until he came back the other day. Once you do the numbers it just makes so much sense.

I have a feeling that it creates less of a headache for the MS folks as well since they just license piece of hardware instead of having to worry about individual VM licenses/SA/tracking/different OS versions and inventory and so on.

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Paul_B1
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Holy crap.. this is going to save us in the HUNDREDS of thousands every year (of which I'll not see any hahaha). My boss about fell out of his chair when I pointed it out to him. I also explained he can never question my reading stuff on the internet while i'm at work. hahaha

Thanks for pointing this out guys/girls

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SPTurnage
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I don't think Microsoft cares either way. As long as you pay for the Datacenter Edition, they could care less if you use their FREE virualization software or buy someone elses. After all, they got the money for Datacenter Edition.

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canadait
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I believe that you also receive "down grade" rights so you can license your W2K or NT hosts for that matter under this program.

Yay..more money for ESX licenses Smiley Happy

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jrh910
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Does anyone have a link to an official press release or document from MS that verifies this claim? I just spoke with our MS corporate account rep and he said that the unlimited OS license is only valid if datacenter is actually installed on the server. We were told that we can't just buy datacenter edition, install ESX and run an unlimited number of MS OS's.

The link from the original poster: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/news/bulletins/datacenterhighavail.mspx does not explicitly address non-Microsoft virtualization platforms.

He said that if we wanted to use GSX or VirtualServer we would be OK since Datacenter was installed on the box.

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jurajfox
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You can just install a token VM with Datacenter on the box.... then you have datacenter running on the box

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