System Center 2012 Licensing Changes – In Plain English Revision 1 – 5/30/2012
Windows Server and System Center portions applicable to all licensing programs Enrollment for Core Infrastructure portions applicable to Enterprise Agreements Prepared by PC Connection
Summary
Recently, Microsoft has developed specific licensing models to address the challenges of Windows Server virtualization. In this whitepaper we will examine two. First, we will take a closer look at one of the primary components of, System Center 2012. System Center is a suite of solutions for provisioning, patching, monitoring, and managing your physical and/or virtual server infrastructure. We will discuss in practical terms what the software does and how to properly license your servers. System Center for client management will not be addressed in this licensing brief. Later, we will provide an overview of Microsoft’s Enrollment for Core Infrastructure (ECI). ECI gives Microsoft customers a new way to buy all the software that they will need to realize a Dynamic datacenter, through a single, enterprise-level enrollment. Under the right conditions, ECI is a simple, cost-efficient solution to gaining more control over your IT assets. Finally. in this brief we will discuss what those conditions are, and when ECI should be considered. Note: the licensing models discussed in this document apply regardless of the type of hypervisor you have deployed. ECI and System Center will be licensed the same for a VMware environment as it would for a Hyper-V or Xen environment.
System Center 2012 Overview
System Center 2012 is a suite of eight products that allow IT administrators to manage their server and cloud infrastructure from end-to-end through a “single pane of glass”. The individual components and primary functions of the Suite are as follows:
System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM, formerly SMS) – Deploys, patches, and assesses servers.
System Center Operation Manager (SCOM, formerly MOM) – Monitors the health and wellness of servers.
System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) – Backup to disk, tape, or cloud; site-to-site replication; system state and bare metal recovery.
System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) – Centralized planning, deploying, managing, and optimizing the physical and virtual infrastructure.
System Center Service Manager - Incident and problem resolution, change control, and configuration and knowledge management.
System Center Orchestrator (formerly Opalis) - Process automation of incident response, provisioning, virtual lifecycle management and change management.
System Center App Controller – Gives application owner consistent self-service for managing private and public cloud infrastructures.
System Center Endpoint Protection (SCEP, formerly Forefront EndPoint Protection) – Antivirus, antimalware, and security software.
Each of the System Center 2012 suites that are offered through ECI, Datacenter and Standard, includes the exactly same products outlined above. The only difference between Datacenter and Standard is the virtualization rules. Note: The same rules apply to ECI as they do to System Center.
Virtualization Rules for System Center
Each System Center license covers 2 physical processors (# of cores is irrelevant). So one System Center Standard may cover a single dual-processor box, and each consumer will be granted the rights to manage 2 VM’s (also known as ‘operating system environments’ or OSEs) on that box. These licenses may be “stacked”, if you are running more than 2 OSEs per server. For example, if you have four VM’s on a single box, you can purchase 2 System Center Standard licenses, and manage a total of 4 OSEs (2x2 = 4). System Center Datacenter will be a more popular choice for heavily virtualized servers because you can manage unlimited VM’s on that box. Like Standard, Datacenter is a dual-processor license.
System Center 2012 marks one of those rare instances in human history where Microsoft actually made the licensing easier. For previous version of System Center, you as a Microsoft consumer had to worry about Enterprise and Standard Management Licenses (ML’s) and console servers, etc. In version 2012, each suite includes all the MLs and console servers for every product. You only have to purchase a single part # to get everything.
Licensing System Center without Software Assurance
The System Center Suite that we have been discussing thus far is only available for purchase with Software Assurance; there is no ‘License Only’ option for the Suite. In the event that you are purchasing System Center outside of the ECI, and do not wish to cover the licenses with Software Assurance, you may choose any of 5 different System Center products. Keep in mind that these software titles are only being sold at the previous version (not 2012) and are not upgradable. Here are the licenses that are available as
‘License Only’:
System Center configuration Manager 2007R3
System Center Data Protection Manager 2010
System Center Operations Manager 2007R2
System Center Service Manager 2010
System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008R2 (2)
*System Center Configuration Manager Server works in conjunction with the Virtual Machine Manager Agents.
Each of these products requires a console server, and management licenses (agents) for each client device or each server Operating System Environment (OSE). Microsoft considers an OSE any session
running an operating system, whether it is physical, or virtual. Data Protection Manager does not require a console license. There is no upgrade path for any licenses that do not have Software Assurance. Therefore, these licenses would be locked into the versions outlined above with no access to version 2012 or future versions.
System Center License Migrations
Because the licensing model for System Center 2012 is very different than the licensing for earlier versions, there are some important license migration rules to deal with. These rules only apply to those customers who had active Software Assurance at the time of System Center 2012’s release (April 2012). Here’s a simplified view of these entitlements:
TWO System Center Management Suite Datacenter 1 Proc ONE System Center 2012 Datacenter 2 Proc
ONE System Center Management Suite Enterprise 1 Proc TWO System Center 2012 Standard 2 Proc
ONE Enterprise Server Management License (ML), any flavor ONE System Center 2012 Standard 2 Proc
ONE Standard Server Management License (ML), any flavor ONE System Center 2012 Standard 2 Proc
ONE Server Console License, any flavor ONE System Center 2012 Standard 2 Proc
ONE System Center Virtual Machine Manager ONE System Center 2012 Datacenter 2 Proc
Enrollment for Core Infrastructure
You can think of Microsoft’s Enrollment for Core Infrastructure (ECI) as a bundle of software licenses specifically designed for your virtual server environment. This bundle includes the all the software you will need to optimize your datacenter:
1. Server OS, in the form of Windows Server Standard, Enterprise, or Datacenter.
2. Management tools, in the form of System Center Standard or Datacenter.
3. Security, in the form of System Center Endpoint Protection.
As its name implies, ECI is a separate enrollment outside of the traditional desktop EA which you may be more familiar with consisting of Office, Windows, and/or Core CAL. You may think of ECI as an EA for your servers. In fact, you do not need to hold a desktop EA to in order sign an ECI. The primary advantage of purchasing your datacenter software through an ECI is cost efficiency. Microsoft makes the ECI bundle of software much less expensive than it would be to purchase the components separately. As you may be thinking, there are situations where ECI can save you money, but also times when an ECI does not make sense. We will touch on that a few sections down. First, the basics:
There are two types of ECI bundles that are available:
1. ECI Datacenter includes:
Two (2) Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter per Processor licenses
Two (2) System Center 2012 Datacenter Per Processor licenses
2. ECI Standard includes:
Two (2) Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise per OSE licenses
Two (2) System Center 2012 Datacenter Per Processor licenses
ECI Requirements
Minimum Purchase – The initial buy-in to the ECI enrollment is a total 25 licenses of Datacenter, Standard, or a combination of the two. This means that your initial purchase would cover minimum of 50 processors.
Software Assurance – There is no ‘License Only’ option; as with a traditional EA, all ECI licenses are sold with Software Assurance.
Three-Year Term – Like a traditional desktop EA, an ECI enrollment is a three-year commitment.
At the end of the contract you have the choice to renew the agreement, or let it lapse. ECI licenses are perpetual. After your initial agreement term, you own the licenses outright and can use them indefinitely regardless of the state of your Software Assurance. Though we rarely see it happen, you may opt for an ECI Subscription, which acts just like an EA Subscription. In this case, you do not own the software, but are leasing it, and would need to renew, buy-out, or uninstall at the end of your agreement.
Windows Server CAL’s are still required for user access to your Windows Servers.
Benefits of an ECI
Annual True Ups – Like a desktop EA you have the luxury of adding new licenses at any time throughout the year, but do not have to pay for them until your next anniversary. True ups apply to additional licenses added to existing quantities on the agreement.
Lower Pricing - As mentioned above, purchasing through ECI will allow you to enjoy lower pricing than if you had purchased the same products a la carte, as illustrated below:
In this example, one ECI license cost is $688.24 less than buying the individual components. Total cost savings for 50 processors would be $17,206. In each case, the software is exactly the same; the only difference is how it is purchased.
Virtualization Rules for ECI
Each ECI license is a dual-processor license (regardless of the number of cores). So one ECI Standard may cover a single dual-processor box, and the user is entitled to manage 2 VM’s (also known as ‘operating system environments’ or OSEs) on that box. These licenses may be “stacked” if you are running more than 2 VM’s per server. In example 1, if you have four Windows Server Standard or Enterprise VM’s on a single box, you can purchase 2 ECI Standard licenses, and manage a total of 4 VM’s (2x2 = 4). ECI Datacenter will be a more popular choice for heavily virtualized servers because you can manage an unlimited number of VM’s on that box. Like Standard, Datacenter edition is a dual-processor license. Therefore, if you have a dual-processor box and assign one ECI Datacenter license to it, you are automatically licensed for maximum capacity on that host. Note: the virtualization rules for System Center are exactly the same as ECI.
When Does ECI Make Sense?
From our experience there are two main factors when considering an ECI:
1. How heavily are we virtualized? There is no doubt that ECI makes more sense for those customers with virtualized environments. The licensing structure allows a user to deploy and manage multiple VM’s without the stress and hassle of counting server instances. In this way, it also helps manage compliance risk due to the familiar tendency towards “VM sprawl”.
2. Am I using, or do I plan to use, System Center to manage my virtual infrastructure? There are some customers that use VMware or other third party management tools in their datacenter, and have no plans to deploy any System Center components like SCOM or DPM. If you are one of these users, then ECI probably does not make sense, and you are better off looking at a scenario that includes just Windows Servers. Cost benefits only exist if you plan to deploy at a least one or two pieces of the System Center Suite.
ECI Components
Windows Server Virtualization Refresher
Regardless of which hypervisor you are using, there are certain rules that will apply to Windows Server virtualization. Here are some things you need to keep in mind:
Windows Servers are assigned at the hardware level, not the virtual machine level. So if you have a physical box with 3 Windows Server Standard instances on that box (via VMware, Xen, or Hyper-V), you would apply 3 Windows Server Standard licenses to that specific piece of hardware.
The “90-day rule” states that a Windows Server license, once it has been assigned to a physical machine, may not be reassigned to another physical machine within 90 days. This means that when you use vMotion or Live Migration to move a VM from one box to another, the Windows Server Standard license that is covering that VM does not travel with it to the other host. This is a major consideration for those customers that are frequently moving VM’s from host to host for load balancing. The 90-day rule may only be waived in the event of hardware failure.
Windows Server Datacenter mitigates compliance risk by allowing the user to have an unlimited number of VM’s on a particular box. In other words, the server is always licensed for maximum capacity so you never need to count servers. Windows Server Datacenter is licensed per physical processor.
Windows Server Enterprise allows the user to have up to 4 VM’s on the box to which that license is assigned. You may assign 2 Windows Server Enterprise licenses to a particular box for a maximum of 8 VM’s. Note: Windows Server Datacenter and Enterprise editions are almost exactly the same price – so the break-even for virtualization on a dual processor server would be 8 VM’s. In most cases, it will make sense to license your server with Datacenter for any host that will have over 5 or 6 VM’s, because of the freedom this licensing model provides.
Windows Server Standard allows for just one virtual instance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I still need all the same CAL’s and External Connectors?
Yes. You would still license internal and external users in the same manner that you would if there was no ECI in place.
Does ECI Require Standardization like a desktop EA or EAP?
No. You may license any number of servers you choose. Typically, we see customers using ECI to cover their virtual server infrastructure as well as their non-virtualized, physical servers. Some customers choose to exclude their physical, standalone servers from the ECI and license those through a traditional EA or Select Plus agreement, keeping just their Hyper-V or ESX hosts under ECI.
Can I migrate to ECI in the middle of my current EA, or do I have to wait until the end of the agreement?
Customers with Software Assurance can migrate to the Enrollment for Core Infrastructure at renewal or during the term of their existing contract. If migrating mid-term, you will receive credit for the overlapping Windows Server Software Assurance. Windows Server Standard and Software Assurance can purchase licenses for migration stock-keeping units (SKUs) to CIS Suite Standard. Windows Server Enterprise and Software Assurance can migrate to CIS Suite Standard, or step up to Datacenter. Windows Server Datacenter and Software Assurance can migrate to CIS Suite Datacenter.
If I already own Windows Server licenses with Software Assurance, do I have to re-buy those licenses to get into an ECI?
No. Microsoft has special part #’s specifically for customers with existing SA on their Windows Servers.
The ECI sku will provide new license rights for System Center while providing an SA renewal for Windows Servers. You will see the words “w/o Windows Server” in the description of any of these parts.
If I purchase ECI Standard, and then realize that I am virtualizing more than I expected, can I step up to Windows Server Datacenter?
Yes. As long as your SA is active you can step up from Standard to Datacenter at any time.
If ECI is a separate enrollment from my desktop EA, do I need to sign a second set of paperwork?
Yes. Although your ECI may be tied to your desktop EA and EAP, it will require that you sign separate paperwork. There will also be a separate Customer Price Sheet (CPS) to approve before you buy.
