Windows Server Licensing Calculator

This tool helps to determine the number of required Windows Server 2022 Standard and/or Datacenter licenses and estimate related costs.

Host specification: Provide the number of hosts, the number of CPUs per host, and the number of cores per CPU.

Max # of OSEs/VMs per host: Provide the maximum number of OSEs/VMs per host.

License Type and Payment Model:

2-core pack cost: Prices will be automatically fetched based on your license type and payment model selection.

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Client Access Licenses (CALs):

If checked, only User CALs will be used regardless of device count.
Results Standard Edition Datacenter Edition
Number of hosts: - -
Maximum OSEs per host: - -
To license physical cores on one host: - -
cores to be licensed: - -
required core licenses: - -
covered OSEs: - -
To license additional OSEs on one host: - -
remaining OSEs to be licensed: - -
required core licenses for OSEs: - -
Core licenses required for one host: - -
cores: - -
Totals (all hosts): - -
physical cores: - -
core licenses: - -
2-core packs: - -
maximum licensed OSEs: - -
Windows Server license cost: - -
User CALs cost: - -
Device CALs cost: - -
Total license cost (including CALs): - -
Click to generate a direct ordering link with all calculated licenses
How to use this Windows Server licensing calculator
Quick Start Guide
  1. Enter your server hardware specifications (hosts, CPUs, cores)
  2. Set maximum VMs per host for Standard Edition calculations
  3. Enter current pricing or use the auto-fetched prices
  4. Review the detailed licensing breakdown and total costs

Inputs:

Host specification - to calculate the number of required Windows Server licenses under the by physical cores license model this calculator requires information about the number of servers/hosts, the number of processors (CPUs) per server, and the number of cores per CPU.

Max # of OSEs/VMs per host - the maximum number of Operating System Environments (OSEs) that will be running on one server. Note that License Mobility across Server Farms is not available for Windows Server; therefore, each of the hosts must be licensed for the maximum load in an environment where OSEs/VMs are expected to move between hosts on a regular basis. If you need to calculate the number of Standard Edition licenses for such environment, adjust this value accordingly.

2-core pack cost - provide license pricing for two-core packs.

Example Scenarios
Scenario 1: Small Environment
  • 1 host, 2 CPUs, 8 cores per CPU
  • Max 10 VMs per host
  • Standard: 80 core licenses for 10 VMs
  • Datacenter: 16 core licenses for unlimited VMs
Scenario 2: Large Environment
  • 4 hosts, 2 CPUs each, 16 cores per CPU
  • Max 15 VMs per host
  • Standard: 480 core licenses for 60 VMs
  • Datacenter: 128 core licenses for unlimited VMs
Licensing Windows Server by physical cores

To license Windows Server 2022 by physical cores the following terms and conditions must be met:

  • All physical cores on the server must be licensed.
  • A minimum of 8 core licenses is required for each physical processor and a minimum of 16 core licenses is required for each server.
  • Datacenter Edition allows to run unlimited number of Windows Server operating system environments (OSEs) / VMs on a fully licensed server (e.i., a server with all cores licensed with Datacenter Edition).
  • Standard Edition provides rights for up to 2 operating system environments - one physical OSE and one virtual OSE, when all physical cores on the server are licensed with Standard Edition. If the physical OSE is used exclusively to host and manage the virtual OSEs, then an additional virtual OSE/VM is permitted (two virtual OSEs/VMs in total). Additional licenses can be assigned to a fully licensed server to increase the number of allowed virtual OSEs/VMs. Each additional set of licenses covering all cores on a server and satisfying the per processor and per server minimums permits two additional OSEs/VMs.
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