SQL Server 2014 Now Available
Friday 15th July 2016
With the release of SQL Server 2014 on 1st April, the licensing remains very much the same as it was with SQL Server 2012 but with two changes:
Passive Failover right is now a Software Assurance benefit
SQL Server software can be configured so that if one server fails, its processing will be picked up, recovered and continued by another server. Beginning with SQL Server 2014, each active server licensed with Software Assurance coverage allows the installation of a single passive server used for fail-over support. In previous versions the right to use failover to a single passive server was automatically granted without the need for Software Assurance.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.The active server license(s) must be covered with Software Assurance, and allow for one passive secondary SQL Server, with up to the same amount of compute as the licensed active server, only.
Business Intelligence Edition doesn't require CALs for 'Batch Processing'
Similar to other SQL Server products offered under the Server + CAL licensing model, Business Intelligence (BI) Edition generally requires a SQL Server CAL for each user or device accessing the server software. New with SQL Server 2014, use terms for BI Edition server software now allow batch processing of data without requiring CALs for those data sources supplying the data.'Batch Processing' is defined as an activity that allows a group of tasks occurring at different times to be processed together at the same time.Non-batch processing access to BI Edition servers still requires CALs be assigned to those users and/or devices accessing the server software.The general multiplexing policy still applies to SQL Server Standard and Enterprise Edition software licensed under the Server + CAL model.
Speak with your Bytes account manager on 01372 418 500 to see how you can minimise any affect this may have on your licensing purchases.
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