September 5, 2003 at 1:27 am
???
A) Active/passive. In the active/passive configuration, one or more computers in the cluster do not regularly process information but rather passively wait to pick up the workload when an active server fails. All active servers in a cluster must be fully licensed, according to either the Per Processor licensing model or the Server/CAL licensing model. However, if a server is strictly passive, working only while an active server has failed, no additional licenses are needed for that passive server. The only exception to this rule is if the cluster is licensed using Processor licenses and the number of processors on the passive server exceeds the number of processors on the active server. In these cases, additional Processor licenses must be purchased for the additional processors on the passive server.
B) How does licensing work with the multi-instance feature in SQL Server 2000?
A. SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition includes the ability to run multiple instances of SQL Server 2000 on a single computer. Multiple instances are used by organizations that have several applications running on a server, but want them to run in isolation so that any problem in one instance will not affect the other instances.
With SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition, you can install multiple instances of SQL Server on the same computer without having additional licenses.
September 5, 2003 at 2:28 am
Two servers Active/Active
Node 1 A : cls01\inst1 (4 processor lic)
Node 2 A : cls02\inst2 (4 processor lic)
cls02\inst3 (no extra lic needed)
Whereas Two servers Active/Passive
Node 1 A : cls01\inst1 (4 processor lic)
Node 2 P : none (no lic needed)
Keith Henry
Keith Henry
September 5, 2003 at 8:12 am
I think that there were too many assumptions hidden in the question. One appeared to be that all processors on all boxes are available all of the time. When I saw that 2 licenses was not a choice, I knew that was the case, but I couldn't guess correctly what the hidden assumptions were. Licensing SQL on only 2 processors by disabling the processors in the instance of the OS that the SQL Server is installed on yields 4 licenses. It may even be possible to run a 4-by as a uniprocessor although I have not seen it done. The word "minimum" indicates that the purchaser is trying to minimize the number of licenses purchased. A scenario where the purchaser intends to enable all 4 processors at a later date when there are funds available is quite plausible.
September 5, 2003 at 9:12 am
Also we are dealing with a cluster. No statement is given to Active/Passive or Active/Active state which means you have to only licenses for the Active machine. Which if in this case Node 2 is the Active party it only requires 4 licenses for the processes since you can under the agreement with EE run multiple instances without extra license. Then if Node 1 is passive it will also not require license base on Active/Passive rules of the license. So 4 in that scenario is all that is required by the EULA and Licensing agreement to cover a 4 processor machine.
However here is where they get you.
quote:
How to BuyActive/Passive
Posted: March 31, 2003
The only permissible exception to the requirements for a Processor or Server license is a purely passive server with SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition configured in an active/passive failover cluster. In this configuration, a primary node supports all clients and one instance of SQL Server, while a companion node—the secondary node—remains idle as a dedicated backup, ready to be used if a failover occurs. In this configuration, the passive computer does not require a Processor or Server license. Active/active configurations require licensing both servers as usual.
Note it says the primary node "supports all clients and one instance of SQL Server", so based on that the extra instance does have to have a license, but doesn't neccessarily have to be EE so the question of minimilizing goes to 4 for EE and 4 for Standard for the extra instance since they did not qualify the question with edition of SQL.
But on top of that I really don't think the licensing even covers directly an extra instance on a cluster as if the Active cluster went down and the secondary moves to Primary you break the rule "supports all clients and one instance of SQL Server" right then with the extra instance.
I will say as stated you will need by the licensing agreement 8 processor licenses of some kind but the question at hand leaves too much to assumption and a question mark as to the second instance legal on a cluster.
September 5, 2003 at 10:12 am
But you can't cluster Standard Edition, so all of the instances have to be the Enterprise Edition.
-SQLBill
September 5, 2003 at 11:05 am
Antares, good points. Since you have a multiple-instance cluster, you would have to have an Active/Active cluster. The FAQ on MS for licensing states you have to license the physical processors on the machine, even if you use processor affinity to rule out SQL Server using some of the procs. Seems unfair a bit. Any other instances you stack onto that cluster are already covered since the physical processors have already been licensed.
Brian Knight
http://qa.sqlservercentral.com/columnists/bknight
Brian Knight
Free SQL Server Training Webinars
September 5, 2003 at 11:23 am
Brian,
Which FAQ says that you must license all physical processors? The one at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/howtobuy/faq.asp
says:
Q. Do I have to license all of the processors in a server?
A. You only have to acquire licenses for processors that are accessible to any copy of the operating system upon which SQL Server 2000 is installed.
says:
All Active servers in a cluster must be fully licensed, with either Processor Licenses or Server Licenses. However, if a server is strictly Passive, and works only when an Active server has failed, no additional licenses are needed for that Passive server. The exception to this is if the failover cluster is licensed under Processor License, and the number of processors on the Passive server exceeds the number of processors on the Active server. In this case, additional Processor licenses must be purchased for the additional processors on the Passive computer.
I think that the answer could be 2, could be 4, or could be 8 depending on what assumptions you use.
September 5, 2003 at 11:56 am
I too got caught up in the active/passive licensing. In doing so, I forgot about the separate instances on the other server. They would have to be active so an 8 processor Enterprise license would be required.
September 5, 2003 at 1:15 pm
quote:
But you can't cluster Standard Edition, so all of the instances have to be the Enterprise Edition.-SQLBill
But it doesn't say the second instance on the second box is clustered and in fact most likely itself is not since it has not got a pair to match it on the other box. Not really sure if SQL Standard can or cannot be installed on a clustered Windows setup on one noe of the set. Anyone got documentation for or against. I was just throwing out options.
quote:
Any other instances you stack onto that cluster are already covered since the physical processors have already been licensed.- Brian Knight
Not really sure of that brian again I use the License agreement for reference and it states "a primary node supports all clients and one instance of SQL Server" but that is specific to Active/Passive, they never touch on Active/Active setups except to say both have to be licensed. Doesn't mean can run multiple instances so not sure fits. I would like to find out what an MS rep (that I trust) has to say but our rep took the day off.
Edited by - antares686 on 09/05/2003 1:15:26 PM
September 5, 2003 at 1:41 pm
From Microsoft's Licensing Whitepaper:
quote:
SQL Server 2000 includes a multi-instancing feature which allows customers to install SQL Server more than once on a server. This is used in hosting and multi-application environments, for example. Customers using SQL Server Standard Edition must fully license each instance server (whether in per-seat or per-processor mode). Customers using SQL Server Enterprise Edition can install an unlimited number of instances on each machine without requiring any additional licensing.
Here under Multiple Instances:
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/howtobuy/SQL2KLic.doc
Active/Active is specifically broken out as requiring processor licensing on both servers. This is in the section just above Multiple Instances. Active/Passive is a specific exception which states you only need to license for one active node.
K. Brian Kelley
http://www.truthsolutions.com/
Author: Start to Finish Guide to SQL Server Performance Monitoring
Edited by - bkelley on 09/05/2003 1:43:38 PM
K. Brian Kelley
@kbriankelley
September 5, 2003 at 1:47 pm
quote:
A. You only have to acquire licenses for processors that are accessible to any copy of the operating system upon which SQL Server 2000 is installed.
Exactly. You have to license the processors that are accessible to the operating system. So if you have 4 procs in each server, you would have to license all 4 on both since it's A/A. The only way around that in Windows 2000 is through VMWare, which limits the operating system to only use and see certain processors.
Brian Knight
http://qa.sqlservercentral.com/columnists/bknight
Brian Knight
Free SQL Server Training Webinars
September 5, 2003 at 2:00 pm
quote:
The only way around that in Windows 2000 is through VMWare, which limits the operating system to only use and see certain processors.
Yes, VMWARE is a way. There are others. The question asked for the minimum number of licenses. Using VMWARE allows for a number of licenses less than 8 as does using /NUMPROC=2 in the boot.ini file. As I said, there were hidden assumptions in the question, IMO.
September 5, 2003 at 2:14 pm
I would be extremely leary with this interpretation based on comments I've seen in other forums. You may have limited the # of processors the OS sees, but it is still running on a server with X number of processors installed as hardware.
For instance, with hyperthreading the OS may see 2x the number of processors that are physically installed. However, the FAQ clearly states you have to license based on physical processor, not logical.
Best bet is to get it in writing from MS.
K. Brian Kelley
http://www.truthsolutions.com/
Author: Start to Finish Guide to SQL Server Performance Monitoring
K. Brian Kelley
@kbriankelley
September 5, 2003 at 7:32 pm
quote:
I would be extremely leary with this interpretation based on comments I've seen in other forums. You may have limited the # of processors the OS sees, but it is still running on a server with X number of processors installed as hardware.For instance, with hyperthreading the OS may see 2x the number of processors that are physically installed. However, the FAQ clearly states you have to license based on physical processor, not logical.
Best bet is to get it in writing from MS.
K. Brian Kelley
http://www.truthsolutions.com/
Author: Start to Finish Guide to SQL Server Performance Monitoring
Read this again http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/prodtechnol/sql/reskit/sql2000/part2/c0461.asp
and it is clear on server software.
quote:
You must have a separate Processor License for each processor on a server, even if some processors are not intended for running server software. This is because all processors on a given server will be used to run server software in the vast majority of scenarios. There are, however, larger, multi-processor servers that give you the ability to partition groups of processors within a single computer, allowing you to run the server software on a subset of the total processors. For this case, an exception in licensing is made for servers with sixteen or more processors. For those servers, Processor Licenses are required only for those processors actually running the server software.
Note the statement "even if some processors are not intended for running server software". So yes licensing all processors on the machine is required. Also if you start out with a 2 CPU machine and add 2 more later then you must purchase additional licenses from MS for SQL even if only using 2 CPUs specifically.
September 5, 2003 at 7:35 pm
quote:
quote:
The only way around that in Windows 2000 is through VMWare, which limits the operating system to only use and see certain processors.
Yes, VMWARE is a way. There are others. The question asked for the minimum number of licenses. Using VMWARE allows for a number of licenses less than 8 as does using /NUMPROC=2 in the boot.ini file. As I said, there were hidden assumptions in the question, IMO.
I would watch that statement. You actually may be in violation. Based on chapter 4 which I quote in the previous response it doesn't matter if they can see the CPUs on the server just that they are in the server. EE means multiple instances are safe so a 4 proc license is fine you just have to add the cost of OSes which someone pointed out the virtual machines require their own license the other day to me as they are considered independent of the main OS running the VM environment. Otherwise you would have Linux guys using VM Windows to try to avoid the cost. This area gets real grey real fast and can be a companies biggest mistake.
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