Tag Archives: Flexible Virtualization benefit

Outsourcing Software Management Licensing Brief

This March 2023 Outsourcing Software Management Licensing Brief brings together information about changes that happened in October 2019 and October 2022. You’ll find information on using licences with Listed Providers and Authorized Outsourcers, as well as the benefits that enable this: the Flexible Virtualization Benefit, License Mobility through SA, and the Azure Hybrid Benefit. Find this Licensing Brief here: http://bit.ly/3T1nxR7.

Licensing Brief for virtual desktops

There’s an updated (March 2023) Licensing Brief to explain the options for virtualising Windows 11 and remotely accessing it. Changes include the addition of Windows 365 and the Flexible Virtualization Benefit. Overall, it’s a good summary of the licences you need for each of the different virtualisation options, and you can find this updated Licensing Brief here: http://bit.ly/3Jm6fv4.

Windows 11 licensing for Virtual Desktops

There’s an updated (November 2022) “Windows 11 licensing for Virtual Desktops” Licensing Brief from Microsoft with two main changes.

Firstly, there’s the inclusion of the Flexible Virtualization Benefit showing the additional options customers can now have for using Windows 11 virtual machines with an Authorized Outsourcer’s shared hardware.

Secondly, the Qualifying Operating System requirements are updated, removing the need for one when a user is licensed with a Microsoft 365 licence. Find this updated guide here: http://bit.ly/3gpVmg7.

Licensing Microsoft server products in virtual environments

There’s an updated (October 2022) “Licensing Microsoft server products in virtual environments” Licensing Brief from Microsoft.

There are updates for the new per virtual machine licensing model for Windows Server, the introduction of the Flexible Virtualization Benefit, and the changes for SQL Server 2022 where licensing by virtual machine becomes an SA/Software Subscription benefit.

Find this updated Licensing Brief here: https://bit.ly/3fG3BUw.

SQL Server 2022 licensing

There’s a new SQL Server 2022 Licensing Guide (http://bit.ly/3OeDYqT) and Datasheet (http://bit.ly/3V0dETI), and the Product Terms is also updated (http://bit.ly/3prduoo) for SQL Server 2022. Here are the key licensing changes to be aware of:

  • Licensing by virtual machine with Core licenses is now an SA/Software Subscription benefit
  • When licensing by virtual machine a customer can run SQL Server in any number of containers in the virtual machine
  • Customers with active SA/Software Subscriptions may now use Azure SQL Managed Instance as their preferred fail-over server option in Azure for disaster recovery

SQL Server 2022 licenses with SA or purchased as Software Subscriptions are also eligible for the Flexible Virtualization Benefit, introduced in October 2022, enabling customers to use their licences with any Authorized Outsourcer’s shared hardware. Find the Flexible Virtualization Benefit Licensing Guide here: http://bit.ly/3hGOJ9l.

And finally, there’s the new PAYG option where customers can pay for SQL Server on a consumption basis from $0.1 per hour for a Standard Core, and $0.375 for an Enterprise Core for Azure Arc-enabled servers. Find out more about how that all works here: http://bit.ly/3Arq2UP.

Flexible Virtualization Benefit Licensing Guide

There’s an updated (November 2022) Flexible Virtualization Benefit Licensing Guide. There are some diagrams added, and the requirement for multiple Windows Server Core licenses when a virtual core is mapped to more than one hardware thread, is removed.

Find this updated guide here: http://bit.ly/3hGOJ9l.

Flexible Virtualization Benefit Licensing Guide

There’s a brand new (October 2022) Licensing Guide for the new Flexible Virtualization Benefit. This allows customers licensed with Software Assurance or Software Subscriptions to use their licences with Authorized Outsourcers’ shared servers. The guide contains an overview of the benefit itself, a definition of Authorized Outsourcers, and details about using the benefit with SQL Server, Windows Server, and the desktop products. There are also FAQ and Resources sections at the end.

Find this new guide here: https://bit.ly/3T1kDe5.

Flexible Virtualization benefit and Windows Server VM licensing

Microsoft announce that there will be two significant licensing changes coming in October 2022.

Firstly, the outsourcing terms will be expanded via the Flexible Virtualization benefit which will allow customers to use their eligible licences with any Authorized Outsourcer’s shared hardware. Eligible licences are licences purchased through a Volume Licensing agreement with active Software Assurance, or Server Subscriptions purchased through CSP, and Authorized Outsourcers are any partners offering hosted solutions – apart from the Listed Providers (Alibaba, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft).

The second change is an additional licensing option for Windows Server for customers with active SA or Server Subscriptions: rather than being restricted to licensing the whole physical server, these customers will be able to choose to license at the virtual machine level – both in their own data centres or with an Authorized Outsourcer.

For more information, see the partner announcement here: https://bit.ly/3wFgQdw, or the customer announcement here: https://bit.ly/3CF8eaT.