You do not need a separate SQL Server license for a Standby or Passive server - this Microsoft White Paper explains all
- by tonyrogerson
If you were in any doubt at all that you
need to license Standby / Passive Failover servers then the White Paper “Do
Not Pay Too Much for Your Database Licensing” will settle those doubts.
I’ve had debate before people thinking you
can only have a single instance as a standby machine, that’s just wrong; it
would mean you could have a scenario where you had a 2 node active/passive
cluster with database mirroring and log shipping (a total of 4 SQL Server
instances) – in that set up you only need to buy one physical license so long
as the standby nodes have the same or less physical processors (cores
are irrelevant).
So next time your supplier suggests you
need a license for your standby box tell them you don’t and educate them by
pointing them to the white paper.
For clarity I’ve copied the extract below
from the White Paper.
Extract
from “Do
Not Pay Too Much for Your Database Licensing”
Standby Server
Customers
often implement standby server to make sure the application continues to
function in case primary server fails. Standby server continuously receives
updates from the primary server and will take over the role of primary server in
case of failure in the primary server.
Following
are comparisons of how each vendor supports standby server licensing.
SQL Server
Customers does not
need to license standby (or passive) server provided that the number of
processors in the standby server is equal or less than those in the active
server.
Oracle DB
Oracle requires
customer to fully license both active and
standby servers even though the standby server is essentially idle most of the
time.
IBM DB2
IBM licensing on standby server is quite complicated and is different for every
editions of DB2. For Enterprise Edition, a minimum of 100 PVUs or 25 Authorized
User is needed to license standby server.
The
following graph compares prices based on a database application with two
processors (dual-core) and 25 users with one standby server.
[chart
snipped]
Note All prices are based on
newest Intel Xeon Nehalem processor database pricing for
purchases within the United States and are in United States dollars. Pricing is
based on information available on vendor Web sites for Enterprise Edition.
Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Edition
25 users (CALs) x $164 / CAL + $8,592 / Server = $12,692 (no need to license standby server)
Oracle Enterprise Edition (base license without options)
Named User Plus
minimum (25 Named Users Plus per Core) = 25 x 2 = 50 Named Users
Plus x $950 / Named Users Plus x 2 servers = $95,000
IBM DB2 Enterprise Edition (base license without feature
pack)
Need to purchase 125
Authorized User (400 PVUs/100 PVUs = 4 X 25 = 100 Authorized User + 25
Authorized Users for standby server) = 125 Authorized Users x $1,040
/ Authorized Users = $130,000
