Microsoft cost-based licensing optimization example

This example demonstrates how a software asset manager can optimize Microsoft SQL Server licensing in a cluster deployment.

In this example, a software asset manager is managing the following Microsoft SQL Server entitlements:

Table 1. Microsoft SQL Server entitlements

Entitlement Name	License Type	Number of Purchased Rights	Cost Per Core
SQL Server Enterprise Licenses	SQL Server 2019 Enterprise Core with Software Assurance	1800	$5000
SQL Server Standard Licenses	SQL Server 2019 Standard Core with Software Assurance	600	$1300

The following infrastructure is a VMware cluster that consists of three physical hosts. Each physical host contains virtual machines (VMs) that are running various versions and editions of Microsoft SQL Server. These VMs may potentially be moving across all physical hosts within the cluster.

Based on the available entitlements and the cluster infrastructure, the software asset manager can license the cluster using one of the following options:

Table 2. Licensing options

Option Number	License Type	Licensing Layer	Number of Rights Required on Each Host or VM	Total Number of Required Rights	Total Approximated Cost
1	SQL Server 2019 Enterprise Core with Software Assurance	Physical host layer	Host 1: 12 rights Host 2: 16 rights Host 3: 24 rights	12 rights (Host 1) + 16 rights (Host 2) + 24 rights (Host 3) = 52 rights total	52 rights X $5000 = $260,000
2	SQL Server 2019 Enterprise Core with Software Assurance	Virtual layer	VM-1: 4 rights VM-2: 4 rights VM-3: 4 rights VM-4: 4 rights VM-5: 4 rights VM-6: 4 rights VM-7: 4 rights VM-8: 4 rights VM-9: 4 rights VM-10: 8 rights VM-11: 8 rights	4 rights (VM-1) + 4 rights (VM-2) + 4 rights (VM-3) + 4 rights (VM-4) + 4 rights (VM-5) + 4 rights (VM-6) + 4 rights (VM-7) + 4 rights (VM-8) + 4 rights (VM-9) + 8 rights (VM-10) + 8 rights (VM-11) = 52 rights total	52 rights X $5000 = $260,000
3	Both SQL Server 2019 Enterprise Core with Software Assurance and SQL Server 2019 Standard Core with Software Assurance	Virtual layer	SQL Server 2019 Enterprise Core with Software Assurance: VM-1: 4 rights VM-9: 4 rights VM-10: 8 rights VM-11: 8 rights SQL Server 2019 Standard Core with Software Assurance: VM-2: 4 rights VM-3: 4 rights VM-4: 4 rights VM-5: 4 rights VM-6: 4 rights VM-7: 4 rights VM-8: 4 rights	SQL Server 2019 Enterprise Core with Software Assurance: 4 rights (VM-1) + 4 rights (VM-9) + 8 rights (VM-10) + 8 rights (VM-11) = 24 rights total SQL Server 2019 Standard Core with Software Assurance: 4 rights (VM-2) + 4 rights (VM-3) + 4 rights (VM-4) + 4 rights (VM-5) + 4 rights (VM-6) + 4 rights (VM-7) + 4 rights (VM-8) = 28 rights total	(24 rights X $5000) + (28 rights X $1300) = $156,400

The software asset manager determines that option number 3 is the most cost-effective licensing solution for the cluster. By using this licensing option, the software asset manager can achieve a total cost savings of approximately $103,600.