What is new in licensing Windows Server 2016 and how can you avoid unnecessary expenses?

Today we decided to dedicate our post to licensing Microsoft products . In our experience, for many companies this is a hot topic, since there are a lot of nuances in Microsoft licensing and it is difficult to understand them on their own. In this article we will dwell on the nuances of licensing a new version of Windows Server.

In addition to modifications of the product itself and new cloud functions, the version of Microsoft Windows Server 2016 introduces certain changes in license rights. By analogy with the increase in the threshold for agreements Enterprise Agreements, Microsoft has made the appropriate changes in the licensed model of Windows Server with the cloud. Below we describe in detail the changes in licensing, and most importantly, how to avoid an increase in acquisition costs.

1. What has changed in the licensing of Windows Server 2016?

In general terms, Microsoft is moving from a “processor license” model to a “kernel license”. In previous models, the number of processor cores did not matter for the calculation of licensing requirements. Now this is the main aspect. Until recently, licenses were provided for the processor; now they will cover two cores. In this regard, the general license requirement is based on the number of processor cores. For each server you will need to purchase at least eight licenses, thus, the processor must have at least eight licensed cores.

New license model:

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In this regard, the cost will change as follows:

1 server license (until recently) = 8 licenses for 2 cores (currently)
Thus, in a new model, the cost of a license for 2 cores will be 1/8 of the old license price.

2. Where does this lead?

Such a transition will not lead to any cost changes for standard machines (up to 2 processors for 8 cores). However, companies will have to pay extra for cars of higher productivity. Licensing access rights (client licenses) for Windows Server remains the same. By the way, the minimum threshold in no way reduces the cost - for example, for equipment with a smaller number of processor cores.
Simply put, due to changes, some companies will have to pay more. But we know how to avoid it.

3. How to avoid additional expenses?

So. Software Assurance offers an elegant way to “avoid” extra spending on licenses. Of all the various and useful benefits that companies acquire through a license for maintenance and support, one can highlight the most important: Software Assurance covers all new versions that run during its validity period. Therefore, it is worth investing in the purchase of a new version with Software Assurance.

For clarity, we give a few examples:

Example 1: Company A plans to purchase a Windows Server 2016 license for a server with 2 processors and 10 physical cores each.
Solution: Windows Server 2012 R2 license with SA
Example 2: Company B plans to purchase a Windows Server 2016 license with 4 processors and 16 physical cores each.
Solution: 2 x Windows Server 2012 R2 license together with SA

In addition, you can attach existing licenses with Software Assurance to new hardware.

Step 1: the license for the standard server is re-attached internally to the machine with a higher performance (when re-attaching, do not forget about the 90-day rule).
Stage 2: the required server license for a standard server can be purchased at no additional cost (2012 R2 or 2016).