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Windows Server VM License based on VMWare ESXi 5.5
We have plan to purchase Windows Server 2012R2 Standard Version to build up our new system. In our blue print there are two physical DELL servers with VMware ESXi 5.5 installed, then 3 windows server 2012R2 virtual machines will be deployed on each physical server, that means total 6 windows server 2012 R2 for two physical servers. So in this case we would like to know is that OEM Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard 64-bit fit our request and how many sets can be covered all of 6 licenses. Or I have to select retail version? Any help would be appraciate.
bylmy
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March 11th, 2014 07:00
max2xam
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March 26th, 2014 10:00
As far as I know , licensing model for windows 2012 r2 allows you to run 2 virtual instances per license
(win 2012 r2 standard) on one physical server with 2 physical cpus (doesn't matter how many cores).
So in your case you will need 2 licenses per physical server, with them you can run 4 vm instances of win 2012 r2 standard.
bylmy
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March 26th, 2014 12:00
Thanks for reply. Actually just one physical CPU for each physical server in my case, so if 1 license per physical server could be right?
theflash1932
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March 26th, 2014 14:00
2012 R2 Standard - Retail or OEM - will allow TWO instances of Windows, either physical or virtual. You can run THREE instances, but ONLY if one is used ONLY as the Hyper-V servers to manage two virtuals. Seeing as how the plan is to run VMware, each OEM Server 2012 R2 Standard will cover TWO VM's per server.
- TWO Standard OEM (or Retail) licenses per server (allowing for up to 4 VM's per server) - ONE Standard OEM (or Retail) license per server (2 VM's per server) + ONE Retail license to share between the two servers for the third VM on each machine.
Licensing is the same between Retail and OEM, the only difference being that OEM cannot be transferred to another machine (OEM-licensed VM's can ONLY be run on that machine) ... Retail-licensed VM's can be moved to another host if/when needed.
2012 R2 Standard is licensed for up to TWO physical processors (regardless of the number of cores). Whether you have one or two physical processors, ONE Windows Server Standard license will work. A quad-processor system would require two Standard licenses to properly license the number of processors in the machine, IF Windows was running directly on the hardware. Running 2012 in a VM, you can assign as many cores to it as you like, but only a max of 2 processors in VMware.
So, if you were installing Windows on your single-processor server, a single license would be fine, but since VMware will be your physical OS, you must only pay attention to the number of virtual processors assigned to each 2012 VM. Also, each Standard license will give you only TWO virtual instances of 2012.
Because a lot of software is licensed per processor, VMware has made it so you can dedicate as much power to your machine as possible (through assigning cores) without affecting your per-processor licensing limits.