Hi Friends,
Are you ready for new licensing models in SQL Server 2012?
Yes, there are a couple of changes you need to take a note of:
Enterprise Edition of SQL Server goes into core-based licensing (no more processor based license). Which means if you deploy SQL Server EE on a box with 8 cores, you pay for 8 cores. The more powerful machine you run SQL Server on, more you pay ! Furthermore, EE will have all the new AlwaysOn capabilities.
Standard Edition, however, can still be procured in Server + CAL model as well as Core-based model.
Workgroup Edition is not there anymore. And Datacenter Edition has been merged into Enterprise Edition.
There is a new edition called “Business Intelligence” edition, and this was expected knowing SQL Server’s foothold in BI market. BI edition, however, will only be available in Server + CAL model (no core based model)
This was just a summary. Time for you to read more and start planning your migrations – http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/en/us/future-editions/sql2012-licensing.aspx
There are some changes you might like, some you might not – I would love to hear your feedback and pass it on to Microsoft. Do post your comments and be heard as to what you think about the new licensing models.