I have read the SQL Server 2022 Licence Guide with great care. As far as I can tell, the following is a perfectly valid licence configuration if you have **two licences and Software Assurance**. Assume that I am talking about the same AG throughout. |Server Name | Location | Setup | Covered by Licence | |:---- |------:| -----:| -----:| |Prod Primary | Main data centre | Production Primary, hosting exactly one AG | Licence A - Primary | |Prod HA | Main data centre | Automatic failover AG replica, synchronously replicated | Licence A - Free HA server | |Prod Manual Failover | Main data centre | Manual failover AG replica, asynchronously replicated | Licence A - Free DR server| | DR Readable | DR site | Readable AG secondary, failover/replication don't matter | Licence B | |DR HA | DR site | Automatic failover AG replica, synchronously replicated | Licence B - Free HA server | |DR Manual Failover | DR site | Manual failover AG replica, asynchronously replicated | Licence B - Free DR server| I find it surprising that this seems allowed. **Am I correct that it is allowed?** Obviously, Microsoft has the final say on anything like this. However, what I'm describing here *must* be so common that the professionals here have either seen it before or already know why it does not work.

Production database is hosted on a SQL Server Standard instance and is replicated using merge replication with web synchronization to 10 subscriber databases hosted on 10 separate SQL Express server instances. Each subscriber database is accessible by another 5 local users, who can read/write/process the data. SQL Server Standard instance is licensed through CAL scheme. 1. Do we need to have CAL for every of the 5 local users on each subscriber server instance? 2. Do we need to have CAL for every SQL Server Express instance? Web synchronization is achieved through IIS Server on the same server with the SQL Server Standard instance. 3. Do we need to license every SQL Express instance, or it is free for use? 4. There is an additional capability for 20 users, to access the production database directly through a desktop thin client application, where they can read/write/process data, which data are then replicated to every SQL Server Express instance. Do we need CAL for every user of this thin client application? The application is communicating with SQL Server through ODBC using one specific login user credentials. Thanx

This question is slightly academic. I'm not considering purchasing a new machine for production use. Instead I'm looking at options for my development machine. I also like to fully understand how things work. Intel’s new Core Ultra processors don't have Hyper-Threading. Given that SQL Server is licensed per core, I’m wondering if you end up with less "bang for your license". With my understanding, it seems that unless the single-core performance of the new chip increases significantly, you may end up with reduced performance since you'll have fewer total threads? Thanks heaps, Erik

This won't be an Always ON AG scenario, it will be straight up replication. I know I don't need a new licensing key due to the new Software Assurance Microsoft offers. But then again, I am not sure if I should use the same license key as in production or just spin up a Developer Edition. By "standby", I mean that this node won't be queried, and it will only be there as standby in case the primary goes down.

When I installed SQL Server I was told to use the first option ("...with Software Assurance..."). Now I'm being asked to change that. I know how to change the product key later on, but not this option. What is the effect of these checkboxes, and how can I change this without reinstalling from scratch?

I'm planning to setup an Oracle Standard Edition instance on a server in our test environment. Do I need to purchase a license for this?

In SQL Server 2019, you cannot put more than 32 GB of [memory-optimized data in a database on Standard Edition](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/editions-and-components-of-sql-server-2019?view=sql-server-ver15&preserve-view=true#Cross-BoxScaleLimits) . What happens if you try anyway? I'd try it myself, but I don't want to risk discovering that the answer is a knock on the door from the Licencing Police™.

The Microsoft documentation says if you self-install SQL Server on Azure VM, you need to manually register with the SQL IaaS Agent Extension and activate Azure Hybrid Benefit. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/licensing-model-azure-hybrid-benefit-ahb-change?view=azuresql-vm&tabs=azure-portal Scenario ======== What happens if one installs SQL Server Enterprise Edition and omits the step to register the SQL IaaS Agent Extension and activate Azure Hybrid Benefit? Does this mean that only compute charges will be applied and that SQL licenses charges will be excluded ? OR Does Microsoft have some way of detecting that SQL Server has been self-installed thereby causing the licensing model to default to Pay as you go (PAYG) i.e. you pay for both Compute + SQL Licenses?

I have downloaded a trial version of SQL Server 2017. After installation I got this: > Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Evaluation (64-bit) I want to buy a license for Standard edition after some time. Can I use the same SQL Server instance and apply the new license to it without any downtime, upgrade/downgrade, or re-install?

What does Limited to lesser of 4 sockets or 24 cores for standard edition mean? Since a socket has cores, I think of it like apples - for example: lesser of 4 apples or 24 slices. Is it assuming that each socket can have max 8 cores? or this is not important? 1. If I have 4 sockets (each with 8 cores) then does SQL only use 4 sockets and 6 cores in each (effectively 24 cores)? 2. If I have 6 sockets (each with 4 cores) - then it will consider only 4 sockets (effectively I have 4*4=16 cores)?

1. I installed Db2 from fixpack v11.5.7.0 using db2_install command. 2. I have downloaded "IBM Db2 Advanced Edition - VPC Option V11.5.6 - Activation (CC9WHML)" file from IBM Passport Advantage. 3. I have applied license with: db2licm -a 4. I have checked applied license: db2licm -l and output is:

Product name:                     "DB2 Community Edition"
License type:                     "Community"
Expiry date:                      "Permanent"
Product identifier:               "db2dec"
Version information:              "11.5"
Max amount of memory (GB):        "16"
Max number of cores:              "4"
Features:
IBM DB2 Performance Management Offering:              "Not licensed"

Product name:                     "DB2 Advanced Edition"
License type:                     "Virtual Processor Core"
Expiry date:                      "Permanent"
Product identifier:               "db2adv"
Version information:              "11.5"
Enforcement policy:               "Hard Stop"
Features:
IBM DB2 Performance Management Offering:              "Not licensed"

I haven't seen this kind of display before. Looks like two licenses are applied "Community" and "Advance" edition. **Questions:** a) Is it OK that two licenses are displayed? Which one is valid, both? b) At "Advanced" edition section what does "Enforcement policy" of "Hard Stop" relates to? Until now I have always seen only "Soft Stop". Like I see "Advance" edition has no CPU cores limitations, so what does "Hard Stop" means at this license?

So I have started a new job with a nice non-profit organization, which has been around for a few decades. They have a wide variety of SQL Server editions and versions (ex: 2005 Express to 2016 SP2 Enterprise) and across many Windows VMs (versions anywhere from 2003 to 2016). The previous DBAs did not complete any documentation around the number of licenses the company owns, nor editions, versions. Effectively no useful records. I have run the [MAP toolkit](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=7826) to gather details on the SQL Servers. So at least I've got a starting point for what servers exist, and I've dug into which are still serving up production data. I have also used the new [ApexSQL Discover](https://www.apexsql.com/sql-tools-discover.aspx) tool with mixed results (sorry guys I love your stuff but I can't wait 3 days for this tool to run when I need to add 1 server). And also [dbatools find-dbainstance](https://docs.dbatools.io/#Find-DbaInstance) (not a huge fan of using PS to export large amounts of data). So by piecing this all together, I'm fairly certain at this point that I've discovered most or all of the instances that ever existed on this domain. Of course, I've [queried the licensing](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4099453/how-do-i-find-out-what-license-has-been-applied-to-my-sql-server-installation) in a [number of ways](https://serverfault.com/questions/6988/how-to-view-sql-server-licenses) and thoroughly examined the completely useless [extremely helpful MS SQL licensing guide](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-2017-pricing) *of which nothing seems to provide any information on the licenses that the organization owns or how to acquire it*. The crux of the issue: Some of these licenses were purchased a decade (or two) ago. Some were surely paper invoices. Remember I mentioned this is a non-profit? On the plus side, licensing is cheap. On the other hand, licensing is cheap, so most or all of the licenses do not have SA because it's cheaper to buy new ones. edit: This was the reasoning at the time for not purchasing SA, I was not involved. Should I just assume that since most likely none have SA--that the server is also likely to be licensed properly--and just buy new ones as needed? That seems like a horrible approach. My question: How the heck do I know what SQL Server licenses my new company owns without trying to dig up paper invoices from 2004? I've never been in this situation before. Is my only option to get audited or pay for a partner to audit? (and if so, Microsoft what is you doin' bb??). Any insights that dba.se can provide here will probably add years to my life. Thanks all!

I'm trying to get SQL Server 2016 Developer Edition but when I access to Microsoft Dev Essentials page I only can see Express Edition versions: And when I visit SQL Server Download page I only can download 2019 version I would like get previous versions of SQL Server 2019 Developer Edition. Thanks!

The Power BI Desktop app for Windows is free, which is great. However, the Microsoft site is loaded with talk of licensing to share/view Power BI content. Is that only for their hosted Power BI *SERVICE*? I want to create reports in Power BI Desktop, and distribute these as .pbix files. Is there any reason I can't distribute these without paying a dime? I realize that Microsoft's goal is to get people into their hosted Power BI service, but using Power BI Desktop (free app) to distribute content for free seems to good too be true.

I don't find an evidence in Microsoft Pages regarding SQL Server Data Tools Licensing and Price details. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssdt/download-sql-server-data-tools-ssdt?view=sql-server-2017 Here all the instructions to download and install SQL Server Data Tools and no term mentioning it is Licensed. As I understand searching for such details are to up to our responsibility but I didn't get a clue for it. So my question is SQL Server Data Tools is Free or Not? If Free then Shall we simply download and install as instructed in the below link? If Paid, where is the pricing details? https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssdt/download-sql-server-data-tools-ssdt?view=sql-server-2017

I have the following Virtual SQL Server (running in Windows Server 2016 Hypver-V environment): The VM is on one specific host shared with other vm's and can be moved around on other hosts. SQL Version: ***Microsoft SQL Server 2014 - 12.0.2269.0 (X64) Jun 10 2015 03:35:45 Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation Standard Edition (64-bit) on Windows NT 6.3 (Build 14393: ) (Hypervisor)*** My VM has the following specs: 1 virtual Socket 8 Virtual Processors 500 GB SQL DB The dev's are breaking my bowling balls as they mention that the app in production is too slow because we are not allocating enough resources VM-wise. However, I thought that 8 Virtual Procesors is the maximum no? I found a PDF on the following URL: https://download.microsoft.com/download/B/4/E/B4E604D9-9D38-4BBA-A927-56E4C872E41C/SQL_Server_2014_Licensing_Guide.pdf but this looks so psychedelic that I can't even understand half of what's written. Is there a table somewhere for noob system admins on max specs wise you can give to virtualized SQL Servers?

We need to move our SQL Server 2016 standard License. Our plan is to install SQL Server on the new box with the same license key , test the application / databases and then delete the old SQL server after few days Here is my question can the migration be done in parallel without uninstalling the old server or we have to uninstall the old SQL server first then install the SQL server with the same key on another box.

Hi i have MS SQL with version Microsoft SQL Server 2019 (RTM) - 15.0.2000.5 (X64) Sep 24 2019 13:48:23 Copyright (C) 2019 Microsoft Corporation Enterprise Evaluation Edition (64-bit) on Windows Server 2019 Standard 10.0 (Build 17763: ) (Hypervisor) When i use this version and performed Log shipping, there is an error and i check on microsoft doc, the error because bugs in sql and i need to upgrade the sql server with Cumulative Update that i download in here https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=sql%20server%202019 i use the latest CU. at first everything was fine until about 60 days i get error that says SQL SERVER Evaluation period has expired. And this happened in 3 servers (Production, DR, UAT). after several weeks after upgrade to CU8, got period has expired. is it normal? because when doing installation, what i do is next and next

We have 3 production SQL Server 2019 standard instances which we have licenced through a third party supplier on an annual subscription basis. In our use case this works out cheaper if you only require the licences for <3 years. We've just been informed we need to re-up the licence for the 2nd year within the next 5 days, there's a chance the invoice wont be processed and approved our end until next week, I'm just doing my due diligence on what risk this poses to our production environment. From what I can tell, previously (at least on 2008R2), the instance validated the licence key locally so if this licence type existed back then, even if it did expire, SQL would continue to function as normal. My concern is that Microsoft have implemented some licence protection features since then to support this licence type, which could stop the instance from starting/working, similar to how an expired evaluation licence instance would stop working when the service is restarted. There's very little information on this licence type online, its mentioned on Microsoft SQL Server's licencing/pricing page but the detailed documents linked there don't cover it at all. SQL 2019 Licencing & Pricing Does anyone have any experience with this licencing method/internals of sql licencing and could shed some light on how the instance will behave once it hits its expiration date?

I was hired in a new company 1 year ago. After doing all important stuff, i'm now hunting for problems and etc. Using a powershell that can give me the licence key using to install the SQL Server, I could find that we have 5 different vms, using the same SQL Server 2012 with the same licence key. probably the old people here just used the same EXE and the same KEY to install all sql servers in all vms created because they didn't know about it ( just clicking next next next next) is there a way to fix this and is it possible to edit to elicence key to use a valid one ( a diferent one for each instance on each vm?