SQL Server 2019

There are two main licensing models that apply to SQL Server:  SERVER + CAL or core based (PER CORE) licensing. 
SERVER + CAL: Provides the option to license users and/or devices, with low cost access to incremental SQL Server deployments.

This licensing model is for servers with a small number of clients.

The highlights:

  • Each server running SQL Server software requires a server license. 
  • Each user and/or device accessing a licensed SQL Server requires a SQL Server CAL that is the same version or newer – for example, to access a SQL Server 2012 Standard Edition server, a user would need a SQL Server 2012, 2016, 2017 or 2019 CAL. 
  • Each SQL Server CAL allows access to multiple licensed SQL Servers, including Standard Edition and legacy Business Intelligence and Enterprise Edition Servers.

PER CORE: Gives customers a more precise measure of computing power and a more consistent licensing metric, regardless of whether solutions are deployed on physical servers on-premises or in virtual or cloud environments.

  • Core based licensing is appropriate when customers are unable to count users/devices or have Internet/Extranet workloads or systems that integrate with external facing workloads. 
  • To license a physical server—when running SQL Server in a physical OSE—all physical cores on the server must be licensed.
  • A minimum of four core licenses are required for each physical processor on the server.

There are two primary virtualization licensing options in SQL Server 2019 – the ability to license individual virtual machines and the ability to license for maximum virtualization in highly virtualized and private cloud environments.

INDIVIDUAL VIRTUAL MACHINES

  • To license a VM with core licenses, purchase a core license for each virtual core (virtual thread) allocated to the VM (with a minimum of 4 core licenses per VM). 
  • To license a single VM with a server license (for Standard Edition only), purchase a server license and matching SQL Server CALs for each user or device. 
  • Each licensed VM covered with SA can be moved frequently within a server farm, or to a third-party host or cloud services provider, without the need to purchase additional SQL Server licenses.

HIGH DENSITY VIRTUALIZATION

  • Customers can deploy an unlimited number of VMs on the server and utilize the full capacity of the licensed hardware, by fully licensing the server (or server farm) with Enterprise Edition core licenses and SA coverage based on the total number of physical cores on the servers. 
  • SA enables the ability to run an unlimited number of virtual machines, to handle dynamic workloads and fully utilize the hardware’s computing power.

Licensing for High Availability

The passive secondary server used for failover support does not need to be separately licensed for SQL Server as long as it is truly passive. If it is serving data, such as reports to clients running active SQL Server workloads, or performing any “work” such as additional backups from secondary servers, then it must be licensed for SQL Server. 

Media for current and previous versions are provided on the Microsoft VLSC website. Before purchasing licenses, please carefully read the SQL Server 2019 Licensing Datasheet.
 



Server licenses

SQL Server 2019 Standard

Standard Edition supports 24 cores and 128 GB of memory and has some functional limitations compared to the Enterprise edition (see editions comparison).

The Standard license grants the right to use SQL Server Standard in 1 physical or 1 virtual environment on a licensed computer (server).

License for one physical server (CALs are required)
228-11477 Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Standard - License - Open License - Linux, Win - Single Language N/A
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License for 2 cores (minimum purchase - 2 licenses per server, no CALs required)
7NQ-01564 Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Standard - License - 2 cores - Open License - Linux, Win - Single Language N/A
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SQL Server 2019 Enterprise

Enterprise Edition supports any number of cores and memory. It contains the most complete functionality for data processing (see editions comparison).

The SQL Server Enterprise licensing model is PER CORE only. Client access licenses (CALs) are not required. Licensing of all cores in a physical OSE gives you the right to run any number of instances of SQL Server in physical and virtual OSE. At the same time, the allowed number of OSE on the computer is equal to the number of core licenses assigned to physical cores in the physical OSE. Each additionally purchased core license provides the right to run instances of SQL Server in an additional OSE.

2 core license (minimum purchase - 2 licenses per server, no CALs required)
7JQ-01607 Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Enterprise - License - 2 cores - Microsoft Qualified - MOLP: Open Business - Linux, Win - Single Language N/A
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Client licenses

Device CAL

A SQL Server 2019 Device CAL license provides the right to use the server functionality from one device to any number of users. To calculate the required number of User CALs, you need to calculate the number of users on the network using the server functionality. The number of servers used does not matter.

Client access license for one device
359-06865 Microsoft SQL Server 2019 - License - 1 device CAL - Open License - Linux, Win - Single Language N/A
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User CAL

A SQL Server 2019 User CAL license grants the right to use the server functionality to one user using any number of devices. To calculate the required number of User CALs, you need to calculate the number of users on the network using the server functionality. The number of servers used does not matter.

Client access license for one user
359-06866 Microsoft SQL Server 2019 - License - 1 user CAL - Open License - Linux, Win - Single Language N/A
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