Microsoft Announce SQL 2012 with Licensing Changes

Friday 15th July 2016

With the release of SQL 2012 due early next year, Microsoft have announced some key changes to the product line up and also the way it is licensed.At present the major Editions of SQL 2008R2 include the Standard, Enterprise and Datacentre editions, however with the release of SQL 2012, the Datacentre edition will no longer be available. This will make SQL 2012 Enterprise Edition the premium SQL product. A new 'Business Intelligence' edition is also being introduced that will help organisations get the most out of analysing their data and information.

SQL 2012 introduces some major changes to how the product is licensed, with the introduction of licensing by Processor Core. This will have some major implications if you need new licenses, or if you have Software Assurance on your current SQL licenses.The new SQL 2012 Line Up includes:SQL 2012 Enterprise EditionIntended for mission critical and Tier 1 applications, this will be the premium SQL product. It includes all the functionality of the current SQL 2008R2 Datacentre Edition, as well as all functionality of SQL 2012 Standard and Business Intelligence Editions. SQL 2012 Enterprise Edition will be licensed be Processor Core only.

SQL 2012 Business Intelligence EditionThis product includes all the functionality of SQL 2012 Standard Edition and is capable of corporate and scalable reporting, and includes PowerView and PowerPivot to enable self service Analytics. The Business Intelligence Edition is only licensed by the Server and Client License method, making it ideal to support business intelligence solutions with Sharepoint.SQL 2012 Standard EditionSQL 2012 Standard Edition remains the ideal solution for departmental databases and those limited Business Intelligence projects. This product will be available to be purchased by processor core or by using the Server and Client license method.LicensingUnless you have already purchased processor licenses through an active Enterprise Agreement, processor licenses will no longer be available once SQL Server 2012 is released. Instead, licenses will need to be purchased for each processor core, and there is a minimum requirement of four processor core licenses per processor.

Software assurance will become a more important consideration for SQL 2012, and will provide access to unlimited virtualisation and mobility rights.

There are many complexities to licensing SQL 2012, especially with the new licensing metrics and considerations around virtualisation. The Bytes Account Managers are experts in Microsoft Licensing. They will be able to guide you through the changes, and how you can acquire SQL licenses in the most cost effective way.


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