Win Server 2016 licensing for vmware vsphere HA
Hello,
I am working on a new installation (my first) of VMWare vSphere HA for several windows virtual machines. I have two servers with shared storage. When the hosts are placed into the cluster, there is essentially one server where all the virtual machines are running. I have that setup and running well so far. :)
My question is about licensing those 5 windows 2016 server STD machines. Since there are two physical hosts do I have to have a license for each machine on both hosts?
I am working on a new installation (my first) of VMWare vSphere HA for several windows virtual machines. I have two servers with shared storage. When the hosts are placed into the cluster, there is essentially one server where all the virtual machines are running. I have that setup and running well so far. :)
My question is about licensing those 5 windows 2016 server STD machines. Since there are two physical hosts do I have to have a license for each machine on both hosts?
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ASKER
Not sure I made my question clear.
I have 5 VMs running in the cluster on two physical hosts. Do I need 5 vm licenses (1 for each running instance) or 10 VM licenses (1 for each vm for each physical server it might run on)
I have 5 VMs running in the cluster on two physical hosts. Do I need 5 vm licenses (1 for each running instance) or 10 VM licenses (1 for each vm for each physical server it might run on)
There is no such thing as a 'vm license' in windows. You must license based on physical servers, physical fire counts per server, and the number of VMs. To try and tie that back to your question, you mist have enough licenses to cover the 5 VMs on EACH machine. Not just 5VMs total.
But 5+5 does not equal 10. If you go with server standard, which covers 2VMs, you'd need 3 (or me depending on core counts) per server. So you'd end up with enough licenses for 6 VMs per server since that is the only way to cover the 5VMs. You can't split licenses, so you can't cover just 5VMs.
But 5+5 does not equal 10. If you go with server standard, which covers 2VMs, you'd need 3 (or me depending on core counts) per server. So you'd end up with enough licenses for 6 VMs per server since that is the only way to cover the 5VMs. You can't split licenses, so you can't cover just 5VMs.
ASKER
Thank you Cliff, I am aware of the 2 VMs per Window 2016 license. I was trying (not very well) to simplify down to the VMs. As if anyone can simplify Microsoft's Licensing program. Realizing I would need 3 Win2016 std licenses (16 cores ea) to cover the 5 VMs with one left over.
My question had to do with any requirement to double the number of licenses to 6 Win 2016 STD license (allowing 12 VMs) because I have two physical hosts and effectively licenses each of the VMs for both physical hosts even though a particular VM will only run on one host at a time and in fact only one instance of the VM exists on the shared datastore.
My question had to do with any requirement to double the number of licenses to 6 Win 2016 STD license (allowing 12 VMs) because I have two physical hosts and effectively licenses each of the VMs for both physical hosts even though a particular VM will only run on one host at a time and in fact only one instance of the VM exists on the shared datastore.
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ASKER
Thank you Cliff. Not what I was hoping to hear but I had already purchase the "double" licenses. Just thought about it more and wanted another opinion.
Looks to me like an indirect attack by Micorsoft on VMware via the users. I think I'll be making an effort to move to Linux as much as I can.
Looks to me like an indirect attack by Micorsoft on VMware via the users. I think I'll be making an effort to move to Linux as much as I can.
Not an attack on VMWare at all. Hyper-V and role-specific failover clustering has had the same requirements for eons. Wanted a 2003 2-node active/passive fine server cluster? Each node needed licensing. The passive node didn't get a free ride. There is no nefarious purpose or "attack" anywhere. High availability hasnalwqys come with a premium price tag.
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VMware, a software company founded in 1998, was one of the first commercially successful companies to offer x86 virtualization. The storage company EMC purchased VMware in 1994. Dell Technologies acquired EMC in 2016. VMware’s parent company is now Dell Technologies. VMware has many software products that run on desktops, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS, which allows the virtualizing of the x86 architecture. Its enterprise software hypervisor for servers, VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi), is a bare-metal hypervisor that runs directly on the server hardware and does not require an additional underlying operating system.
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Yes you need licenses for all machines, if you would consider a multi volume license with software insurance you are allowed to license a hot/cold failover situation with one server license.
Another option, but more expensive, is installing 2016 datacenter on the physical hosts, with this you can run unlimited server 2016 vm's.