kboller
asked on
Server 2012 Licensing with Hyper-V VM's and replication
I had this question after viewing Server 2012 Standard VM Licensing.
If I have two servers each running Server 2012 Std R2 with Hyper-V and each server has 3 VMs on it, do I need one additional license for each physical server?
To complicate it further, multiple vm's are replicated between the two servers. Here is the current config:
Server 1
VM1
VM2
VM3 (replication of VM5)
Server2
VM4 (replication of VM1)
VM5
VM6 (replication of VM2)
A follow up question would be is this replication scenario a bad idea? My customer's in-house IT person has implemented this and I'm wondering if it has issues.
Thanks
If I have two servers each running Server 2012 Std R2 with Hyper-V and each server has 3 VMs on it, do I need one additional license for each physical server?
To complicate it further, multiple vm's are replicated between the two servers. Here is the current config:
Server 1
VM1
VM2
VM3 (replication of VM5)
Server2
VM4 (replication of VM1)
VM5
VM6 (replication of VM2)
A follow up question would be is this replication scenario a bad idea? My customer's in-house IT person has implemented this and I'm wondering if it has issues.
Thanks
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ASKER
Thanks again Brandon. Do the replicated VM's need their own license or is the license for the active VM sufficient?
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>>Why you pay for machines that are off never made sense to me, but that is Microsoft's way.
Agreed.
One last question (I promise). Server1 was originally used for some other tasks including file sharing and Remote Desktop Server which are still active. (Not what I would have recommended) Does that negate the license for the 2 VM's from the original physical license?
Thanks for your help!
Agreed.
One last question (I promise). Server1 was originally used for some other tasks including file sharing and Remote Desktop Server which are still active. (Not what I would have recommended) Does that negate the license for the 2 VM's from the original physical license?
Thanks for your help!
The VMs can move around once per 90 days no matter the underlying Windows Server license.
So, the source and destination servers need the same licensing to be legit.
Now, the catch: Software Assurance is required if the VMs are to be moved back to the source site before a 90 day window happens.
So, the source and destination servers need the same licensing to be legit.
Now, the catch: Software Assurance is required if the VMs are to be moved back to the source site before a 90 day window happens.
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Hyper-V comes with 2 licenses for RUNNING ADDITIONAL Windows VMs. My interpretation. As such, replicating the VMs to each other server in that configuration would not violate licensing UNTIL/UNLESS they are turned on. I have recommended similar configs on occasion - the issue is you can't ACTIVATE the replicas until you have appropriate licenses OR there's catastrophic failure of the host VM. This assumes the license is NOT OEM which can't be transferred under any circumstance.
Licensing Disclaimer
License information provided here is "best efforts". The comments of the respondents are based on interpretation of the license agreements and their knowledge of the particular laws and regulations in their geographic location. Laws in your location may invalidate certain aspects of the license and/or licenses can change. "They told me on Experts-Exchange" will not be a valid excuse in an audit. You need to contact the license granting authority to confirm any advice offered here.
Licensing Disclaimer
License information provided here is "best efforts". The comments of the respondents are based on interpretation of the license agreements and their knowledge of the particular laws and regulations in their geographic location. Laws in your location may invalidate certain aspects of the license and/or licenses can change. "They told me on Experts-Exchange" will not be a valid excuse in an audit. You need to contact the license granting authority to confirm any advice offered here.
ASKER
Thank you, that really helps!
ASKER