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.

SQL Server 2022 is generally available

Microsoft announce that SQL Server 2022 is generally available. Volume Licensing customers can download it immediately, and customers purchasing via CSP, OEM, and SPLA will be able to begin purchasing SQL Server 2022 in January 2023. This announcement article (http://bit.ly/3GmU8ww) gives lots of detail on the new features, as well as introducing a new PAYG purchasing model for SQL Server. The new licensing model is enabled by Azure Arc, and allows customers using either Standard or Enterprise edition to pay only when they use SQL Server.

Find out more about how it all works in this article: 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.

Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide

There’s an updated (November 2022) Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide. There are just minor adjustments made, with perhaps the most interesting ones being updates for the new Power Pages product.

You can find out more about Power Pages on our blog here: http://bit.ly/3NXO8Mv, and can find the updated guide here: https://bit.ly/3fzGCL5.

Microsoft 365 App

Microsoft introduce the Microsoft 365 App which will replace Office.com (starting in November 2022), as well as the Office mobile app and the Office app for Windows (starting in January 2023). The “traditional” perpetual licences for Office 2021 stay branded as Office at this time.

For more information, take a look at the FAQs here: https://bit.ly/3ThafiM.