Archive for the ‘License Mobility’ Category

Windows Server 2012: Navigating the New Licensing Structure

March 20th, 2013
Posted by: admin

 

By Bill Peters, AIS Network Director of Sales

Windows Server 2012, which was released last fall, is the latest among Microsoft’s Windows Server product offerings, and it delivers a dramatically simplified licensing experience.

What went away? Away went the Enterprise edition, which was retired.  Windows Server 2012 Standard edition includes all the premium features previously included in Enterprise edition.    Away went the Web Server, and now web workloads running on a Windows Server 2012 edition will continue to receive the “CAL waiver” that is in effect for these workloads today.  Windows Server CALs will not be required to access the licensed server if it is only being used to run web workloads.  Away went HPC Products.  Microsoft will now deliver the HPC Pack 2012 as a free download that can be used with any Windows Server 2012 Standard or Datacenter license.   HPC workloads running on Windows Server 2012 Standard or Datacenter editions will continue to receive the “CAL waiver” that is currently in effect for these workloads.

So what’s new? Well, now there are just four Windows Server 2012 editions from which to choose.  And, shaped by feedback from customers and partners, the new Windows Server licensing approach should help make choosing the right Windows Server a whole lot easier too.

Windows Server 2012 Licensing Overview

Microsoft holds that its new licensing approach will deliver the following benefits to its Windows Server customers:

Simple. It’s easier than ever to determine the right Windows Server edition for you.  Choose from just four editions of Windows Server 2012, based on the size of your organization and your requirements for virtualization and cloud computing.

Economical. All editions of Windows Server 2012 deliver excellent economics and ROI for your business. For example, the Datacenter edition, with its unlimited virtualization rights, provides the benefits of cloud-level scale with predictable, lower costs. The Standard edition now offers all of the same enterprise-class features as the Datacenter edition and is differentiated only by virtualization rights.

Cloud-optimized. Businesses today are rapidly adopting a hybrid approach across private and public cloud computing.  Windows Server 2012 offers the right edition for you, no matter where you are on your path to the cloud.  Use the Datacenter edition for highly virtualized cloud environments, the Standard edition for lightly virtualized environments progressing toward cloud, or the Essentials edition for an ideal cloud-connected first server.

Here’s the Windows Server 2012 licensing at a glance:

*CALs are required for every user or device accessing a server. See the Product Use Rights for details.

Why a streamlined licensing model for core infrastructure? In short, this new model enables easier assessment and management of your server environment.  For one thing, a single licensing model makes it easier for you to purchase the right product for your organization’s needs and also compare the cost of alternatives.  Another plus is that it allows for a single, familiar and easy-to-track metric for all infrastructure products (reducing management overhead).   Finally, as part of the alignment with the Microsoft private cloud licensing model, Windows Server 2012 and System Center 2012, as well as Enrollment for Core Infrastructure (ECI), now all have the same licensing and packaging structure.  Simple and convenient, right?

Choosing Between the Windows Server 2012 Standard and Datacenter Editions

Obviously, the Foundation and Essentials editions are for small business.  If you are a mid-size business or a large enterprise, like the majority of AISN customers, your choice lies between Standard and Datacenter.  When it comes to determining which of the two editions is best for your enterprise, there are only two words to keep in mind: virtualization rights.

Both the Standard and Datacenter editions provide the same set of features (including high availability features like failover clustering).  The only differentiator between the editions is the number of Virtual Machines (VMs) being used.  If your strategy calls for a highly virtualized environment, then the Datacenter edition provides you with optimum flexibility, since it allows for unlimited virtualization.  If you aren’t ready to heavily virtualize your environment, a Standard edition license entitles you to run up to two VMs on up to two processors.

Calculating Your Windows Server 2012 License Needs

So, how do you decide how many licenses you’ll need? Good question.  Because the Datacenter edition allows for an unlimited number of VMs, only physical processors need to be counted when determining licenses for the Standard edition.  Here’s a quick formula:

1 license = 2 physical processors

To determine the number of licenses needed to fully license a physical server, simply count the number of physical processors in the server and divide that number by two.  That will tell you the number of licenses you need.

Each Standard edition license provides you with the right to run up to two VMs.  If you want to run additional VMs but do not require the highly virtualized environment that Datacenter provides (which is unlimited VMs), then you can simply purchase additional Standard edition licenses and assign them to a single physical server in order to increase your VM entitlements on that server.

Now for the nitty gritty.  What activities are NOT allowed under theWindows Server 2012 licensing?  You cannot:

  • Mix Windows Server 2012 Standard and Datacenter licenses on the same server.  All of the processors on a given server must be licensed with the same version and edition.
  • Split your Windows Server 2012 license across multiple servers.  Each license can only be assigned to a single physical server.
  • Assign a Windows Server 2012 license to a virtual machine.  A license is assigned to the physical server and each license will cover up to two physical processors.
  • Use your Windows Server 2008 CAL to access Windows Server 2012. The CAL accessing the instance of Windows Server must be equivalent to or higher in version than the server being accessed.

Factoring in Software Assurance

A number of enterprise customers will be concerned about how Software Assurance will work with Windows Server 2012.  Here are some scenarios.

Software Assurance and the Datacenter Edition. If you have Software Assurance on the Datacenter edition, you are entitled to the Windows Server 2012 Datacenter edition.  On the old version, a Datacenter license covered up to 1 processor.  With Windows 2012, a Datacenter license covers up to 2 processors.  So, for every two current Datacenter licenses with Software Assurance, you will receive one Windows Server 2012 Datacenter edition license.

Software Assurance and the Enterprise Edition. If you have Software Assurance on the Enterprise edition, you’re entitled to receive two Standard edition licenses for each Enterprise edition license that you have.

Software Assurance and the Standard Edition. If you have Software Assurance on the Standard edition, you’re entitled to receive one Windows Server 2012 Standard edition license for each Standard edition license that you already have.

Software Assurance and the Web Server Edition. If you have Software Assurance on the Web Server edition, you’ll receive an additional Windows Server 2012 Standard edition license to use while also maintaining your right to run your current Web Server license.  For every two Windows 2008 R2 Web Server edition licenses, you’ll receive one Windows Server 2012 Standard edition license.

What if I want to upgrade to the Datacenter edition? Remember that the Step-Ups from the Enterprise edition to the Datacenter edition are being removed from the price lists.  Therefore, if you’ve decided to move to a more highly virtualized or private cloud environment, you should consider taking advantage of the Software Assurance Step-Up benefit to upgrade to the Datacenter edition prior to the Windows Server 2012 General Availability.

Purchasing Windows Server 2012 Licensing

Okay, now how do you get going?

You can purchase Windows Server 2012 licenses through multiple channels, which provides you with optimum flexibility and choice to acquire the software.  Microsoft Hosting Partners like AIS Network are an excellent resource in evaluating your Windows Server 2012 licensing needs.  We can help you evaluate, plan, deploy, and manage any type of hosted system—from a small business implementation to supporting the largest enterprise applications built on the latest technology.

At AISN, we recommend Service Provider Licensing Agreement (SPLA) licensing (as opposed to other volume licensing), based on ease of deployment.   How does it work?  AISN tracks and manages the licensing for you.  We provide a monthly subscription-based pricing plan, including software assurance.  This eliminates any large, upfront costs needed to purchase the right amount of licensing as well as the over-purchasing of unused licenses.  However, if you own volume licensing we can utilize those licenses in our hosted environments.

Why so many options for licensing?  The various licensing options enable you to choose the program that works best for your management and operational needs.  We’d be happy to discuss with you in more detail all of your options and how they can be delivered via a custom hosted solution.  For a conversation about this and a free quote,  email me now and let me know your needs.

AISN is ready and eager to work with you on all of your hosting needs and on helping to save your business money too.

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SharePoint Users: Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Solves Common Business Challenges

June 29th, 2012
Posted by: admin

 

By Jay Atkinson
AIS Network CEO

Microsoft SQL Server 2012 is here now.  How much do you know about it?

If you’re using Microsoft SharePoint 2010 or Microsoft SharePoint 2010 for Internet Sites or if you manage big data, then it’s likely that you are familiar with SQL Server.  This newest version of Microsoft’s premier enterprise database management system has numerous new (and quite powerful) features over the previous release, 2008 R2.

In fact, there are so many noteworthy improvements over 2008 R2 that it would take quite a long time to blog about them all.  Rather, let’s just examine how this new version helps you solve some basic business challenges effectively.

Why use SQL Server 2012?  As the foundation to the cloud-ready information platform, SQL Server 2012 will help businesses of all sizes unlock breakthrough insights across the organization as well as build solutions quickly and extend data from server to private or public cloud — all backed by advanced capabilities for mission critical confidence.

Not only does SQL Server 2012 help improve customer management, but it also may help you face a number of common challenges.  Let’s look at five:

SQL Server 2012

But how do you know if you need SQL 2012?  Many organizations are 24×7 operations.  They may have a global presence too.  But they all have one very important quality in common:  they cannot afford downtime.  Does this describe you?  If so, ask yourself some of these questions:

  • How is your current database supporting your needs?
  • Is the performance of your current database where you need it to be?
  • Are you planning a move to the cloud?
  • Do you see yourself introducing new mission critical applications or planning migrations within three months to a year?
  • How are you viewing business insights for your organization?
  • Are you planning any major projects within the next three months to a year?

These are all good discussion points that we’d be happy to help you work through in your effort to discover whether or not SQL Server 2012 would benefit your organization.

Finally, I’d suggest three brief points for consideration:

1)  Mission Critical Confidence. SQL Server 2012 enables mission critical performance and availability at low TCO.  Consider that it offers:

  • A new integrated high availability and disaster recovery solution
  • Advanced performance speeds
  • Built-in encryption capabilities help protect confidential information without changes to the application

2)  Breakthrough Insight. Use SQL Server 2012 to unlock new insights with pervasive data discovery across the organization.  With SQL Server 2012, you can:

  • Empower business users to create visually rich dashboards or reports across heterogeneous data sources
  • Activate managed self-service BI, which easily balances an employee’s need for rich information and collaboration with IT’s need to manage the safety and confidentiality of information

3)  Cloud on Your Terms. SQL Server 2012 is useful in enabling you to create business solutions quickly – on your terms – across servers to private or public clouds. You’ll like that you can:

  • Easily move applications across on-premises and cloud with unlimited virtualization (available through SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition) and license mobility
  • Extend data across on-premises and the cloud

Are you aware of the significant improvement Microsoft has made to the licensing model for SQL Server 2012?  We’ll cover that topic in a future blog.

In the meantime, to learn more about how Microsoft SQL Server 2012 can help you stay productive and reduce costs, please just contact our office.  We’re happy to help.

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SharePoint Hosting White Paper Rolling Out on Thursday

August 10th, 2011
Posted by: Michael Emrich

SharePoint White Paper

AIS Network has released a new white paper, "To Cloud or Not to Cloud: SharePoint 2010 Hosting Options...and Which One Is Right for You."

By Michael Emrich – Associate, Marketing & Sales

This Thursday will be a big day for AIS Network. Not only will it be the first day of SharePoint Saturday in Northern Virginia, an event we will be attending for the first time, but we will also be rolling out our first-ever white paper. Entitled, “To Cloud or Not to Cloud: SharePoint 2010 Hosting Options…and Which One is Right for You,” the white paper will serve as both a guide to SharePoint and its hosting and an in-depth analysis of the rapidly-growing cloud-based hosting platform for SharePoint.

The paper will serve as a guide to the many hosting options that SharePoint users have available to them. Some of the questions addressed in the paper include:

  • What are your SharePoint hosting options?
  • What are the pros and cons of each option?
  • In what situations would each be preferable?
  • What does each method need from you in order to work?

Selecting a hosting method needs to be a very educated decision, and this white paper is your text book.

The cloud-based hosting method will be discussed in great length, chronicling the explosive growth of hosting SharePoint in the cloud and what kind of options you’ll have available to you. The whole concept of cloud computing is still a relatively new one, so this white paper will hopefully educate you and clear up any misconceptions that you might have about the cloud.

So, if you’re going to be at SharePoint Saturday in Northern Virginia, stop by Booth #419 and pick up a copy. Or, if you’re more interested in an electronic copy, keep an eye out for the white paper’s pdf release on the company Web site.

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How License Mobility Removes Barriers to Going to the Cloud

July 19th, 2011
Posted by: Michael Emrich

Cloud Computing Man, AIS Network

AIS Network takes SharePoint to the Cloud.

By Bill Peters
AIS Network Director of Sales

Thinking of moving to the cloud, but don’t want to see your Microsoft software with Software Assurance become shelfware?

We can help.  AIS Network is the first SharePoint 2010-focused hosting company in the world to become a Microsoft Authorized License Mobility Partner.

There are many reasons why a company may be hesitant about moving their on-premise SharePoint environment to the cloud. A big reason has been that companies do not want to abandon their capital investment in software bought through their Enterprise Agreement or other Microsoft volume licensing programs.

Client Access Licenses, purchased through Enterprise Agreements, are perpetual Microsoft licenses that a company may place “on premise,” or on its own servers.  Up until recently, the catch with CALs was the part about “on premise.”  In general, this software could only be placed on servers owned by the company who owned the software, and not on the servers of another provider, such as a managed hosting company.

This could be a real impediment to a company that had already invested in CALs if they wanted to move their applications to the cloud, because they would be unable to do so without getting new licenses from their hosting provider.   Microsoft has a different licensing model for hosted server applications, called SALs (Subscriber Access Licenses).  Unlike CALs, you do not own SALs – you pay a monthly fee to rent them.  Rather than buy and own software (CALs), companies get subscriptions (SALs) to the software from their hosting company.

This is a more predictable investment in that you have a monthly fee to access the software with no significant capex. Server software bought using the CAL system requires an expensive initial investment, but it guarantees the software for life if Software Assurance is included, which, over time, may have a lower cost of ownership.

That all changed on July 1st.  Microsoft is now offering a service called License Mobility through Software Assurance. What “License Mobility” means is that customers with active Software Assurance coverage on their CAL-licensed products can use their CAL-licensed software with a hosting company, rather than only on their own servers. Instead of paying a monthly subscription fee in addition to software you already own, you can just use the software that is already yours — in the cloud.  Depending on the actual environment, there may be a small monthly fee (a fraction of the full SAL fee) for this privilege. In addition to SharePoint Server, other software eligible for License Mobility includes Exchange Server, Lync, SQL Server, Dynamics CRM software, and System Center servers.

License Mobility removes another barrier that companies face while going to the cloud. No longer will previously purchased software need to become shelfware. If that has been a major factor in keeping you from going to the cloud, then you now have a compelling business case to consider moving to the cloud.

Are you looking for license mobility?  We can help.  Contact me directly at bill(dot)peters(@)aisn(dot)net.

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