Registering the SQL Server license

The SQL Server supports the following license registration modes:

• Per User licensing—Used to register the SQL Server 2012 Developer and Parallel Data Warehouse.

• Per Core licensing—Used to register the SQL Server 2012 and later versions. For a server installed with the SQL Server component, the number of core licenses is determined by the total number of cores on all processors. You must buy one core license for each core. If the number of cores is less than four on a processor, four core licenses are still required for the processor. With Per Core licensing, the number of SQL servers and IMC servers is not relevant. Per Core licensing is applicable to networks that contain several SQL servers and IMC servers. Figure 26 displays an example of Per Core licensing for SQL Server 2012.

  Figure 26: Per Core licensing

  

• Server/CAL licensing—The number of Server/CAL licenses is determined by the number of SQL servers and IMC servers. You must buy a server license for each SQL server and a CAL license for each IMC server. Server/CAL licensing is applicable to networks that contain few SQL servers and IMC servers. Figure 27 displays an example of Server/CAL licensing for SQL Server 2008 R2.

  Figure 27: Server/CAL licensing

  

Before choosing a license registration mode, determine the IMC deployment environment:

• If IMC is deployed in centralized mode, buy a CAL license for the IMC server only.

• If IMC is deployed in distributed mode, buy a CAL license for each IMC server that must access the SQL Server.

For more information about SQL Server license registration, see the related Microsoft documentation.

	NOTE: The license registration modes apply to the Standard and Enterprise editions of SQL Server 2008/2008 R2/2012/2014. You do not need to buy a license for other editions such as the Express edition.