Tag Archives: Licensing Guides

RDS 2012 R2 FAQ

Windows Server 2012 R2 RDS FAQ document from Microsoft. Three key takeaways: the licensing model remains the same (RDS 2012 CALs are allowed to access Windows Server 2012 R2, and RDS CALs are required in most virtual desktop scenarios), there will be a new SA benefit for RDS CALs (eventually – “by next year” – they will permit access to hosted Windows Server desktops without an RDS SAL), new prices are confirmed for the RDS CALs (word on the street is that there’s a 20% increase): http://bit.ly/18wY96Z.

Azure AD RMS

An engagingly written (yes really!) whitepaper on Microsoft Rights Management including Azure RMS. I’d recommend reading the whole thing, but otherwise the licensing information starts on page 14. Three key takeaways: no licences are required for consuming rights protected content (only if you’re doing the protecting), Office 365 E3 and E4 already include Azure RMS (these suites are said to be “RMS-enlightened”), the Azure RMS subscription will be available as an add-on subscription both through MOSA and the EA (looks like September 2013). Get the whitepaper here: http://bit.ly/1cacWIJ.

System Center 2012 R2 Licensing Guide

New System Center 2012 R2 Licensing Guide from Microsoft. Three key takeaways: nothing has changed from System Center 2012 licensing (hurrah! but it IS good to have an up-to-date guide), you will need SA on your 2012 licences to move to 2012 R2 (as we’ve come to expect), Azure is called out for public cloud licensing (confirmation that each Azure instance is considered to be one virtual OSE): http://bit.ly/17GwiSB

New datasheet on SCE

Interesting new Enterprise Agreement Server and Cloud Enrolment (SCE) datasheet available. Three key takeaways: this enrolment replaces ECI and EAP (customers can renew into SCE), four components of SCE available individually or grouped (Core Infrastructure, Application Platform, Developer Platform, Windows Azure), available in Q4 2013. http://bit.ly/14Hdgww

WS 2012 R2 Licensing Guide out

There’s a good new Windows Server 2012 R2 Licensing Guide available. Three key takeaways: Windows Server 2012 CALs can be used with Windows Server 2012 R2 (which we’d expect), the price of Datacenter edition has increased (now recommend Datacenter edition for customers who have 13 VMs or more running), and the licensing terms have been expanded for virtualisation in Essentials edition (see the FAQ on page 12). Download the guide here: http://bit.ly/1cPL51I