Windows Server 2016 Licensing Guide

This is Ohara from the technical sales department.

This article describes the licensing system of Windows Server 2016 for server licenses.
*This article is as of June 2017, so the pricing structure and specifications may change in the future.

From “Processor License” to “Core License”

When purchasing a Windows Server license,
up to Windows Server 2012R2, you were charged for a "processor license."

This "processor license" is the number of "CPUs" (sockets) on the server.

Windows Server licenses were also charged based on the number of CPUs installed on the server

purchasing is changed to "per core" instead of "per CPU"

License billing rules

First of all, the prerequisites for purchasing a license are specified as shown in the table below.

Based on the above licensing system, the
question is, "How many licenses should I purchase per core?"

The calculation formula is as below.

■ Minimum number of cores to purchase: 16 cores
■ Per license: 2 cores (Purchasing 1 license includes 2 cores in a pack)

Therefore, if you purchase the minimum purchase number of 16 cores, the minimum purchase number is 8 licenses.

others

■ It is possible to downgrade Windows Server 2016 to 2012.

■ Windows Server 2016 also requires CAL (User or Device). (Except for SPLA version)

*Windows Server 2016 CALs can be used for Windows Server 2012, but
Windows Server 2012 CALs cannot be used for Windows Server 2016.
If you wish to continue using the Windows Server 2012 CALs you have already purchased,
you can downgrade Windows Server 2016 to 2012.

*By the way, the DB license
"Microsoft SQL Server 2016" can also be downgraded to Microsoft SQL Server 2012.

summary

I hope this article will be helpful if you forget the licensing system or billing format when purchasing a license for Windows Server 2016