Denali – Day 4: Editions & Licensing

Editions:

Here is a brief edition summary of Editions available for all sql server from 2005 to 2012.

As now from Denali, edition of sql server has been modified a bit, like it has three main editions, as Microsoft site has a great detailed information on it.

Enterprise Edition: This is the Major edition, which contains ALL features provided by sql server 2012(Engine, BI) everything. So Datacenter edition is also included in Enterprise edition.

Business Intelligence Edition:- BI Edition contains All the BI related features as well as all Standard Edition Features.

Standard Edition:- Contains Basic Functionality of Engine, BI.

http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/en/us/editions.aspx

Features:-

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc645993.aspx

http://databases.about.com/od/sqlserver/a/sql_server_2012_licensing.htm

Licensing:

Microsoft has changed the licensing from processor licenses to Core Based licensing.

• Core-based Licensing for Enterprise
  
• Server + CAL licensing for Business Intelligence
  
• Choice of core-based licensing or Server + CAL licensing for Standard
  

http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/en/us/get-sql-server/licensing.aspx

http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/F/7/4F74E127-827E-420D-971F-53CECB6778BD/SQL_Server_2012_Licensing_Datasheet_and_FAQ_Mar2012.docx

Aaron view on this-

http://sqlblog.com/blogs/aaron_bertrand/archive/2012/04/27/a-cautionary-tale-about-grandfathering-CAL-licenses-in-SQL-Server-2012-Enterprise.aspx