Tag Archives: SQL Server 2016

SQL Server 2016 ESUs

Microsoft announce a change for SQL Server Extended Security Updates (ESUs) as SQL Server 2016 approaches its End of Support date on 14 July, 2026.

ESUs are optional purchases that extend support by providing an additional three years of Critical updates for on‑premises and cloud‑based workloads. You can buy these as 1‑year ESU licences or through a Pay‑As‑You‑Go ESU meter via Azure Arc.

For SQL Server 2014, migrating SQL workloads to Azure removed the associated ESU costs. However, that’s no longer the case with SQL Server 2016, and instead ESUs are chargeable across all deployment options, including Azure VMs and Azure Stack. SQL Server 2016 ESUs are now available, providing coverage until July 2029.

For more details, you can read the blog announcement here: https://bit.ly/4enD0Yg. Subscribers can join us in July for in-depth training. Not yet a subscriber? Contact us at info@licensingschool.co.uk for details.

SQL Server 2016 Availability

Microsoft announce that SQL Server 2016 will be generally available on 1 June, 2016.

There’s not much detail on any licensing changes – so far we just know that the editions are confirmed as Express, Standard, Enterprise, and Developer and so we say farewell to the Business Intelligence edition.

The announcement is here: http://bit.ly/24iTI29 and you can download a datasheet about the editions here: http://bit.ly/21qiTdT.

Licensing SQL Server on Linux

Microsoft announced in early March that SQL Server is to be available on Linux (http://bit.ly/1Y1LSlS) but how will it be licensed?

The answer’s easier than you might expect – if you buy a SQL Server licence then you’ll be able to use SQL Server on Windows Server or Linux.

Find this and some other useful SQL 2016 questions here: http://bit.ly/1RLZG2j.