Windows Server licensing in a VMware cluster
Where is it written that when Windows Server runs in a VMware or any other cluster where machines move, where does it say that you need to license for maximum capacity? And why are Windows Server Datacenter licenses preferred?
Microsoft Product Terms doesn’t say it anywhere. You won’t find “max capacity” in any of the terms. Microsoft taught me back in 2008 that you must license for maximum capacity. This means that even if your host can only run 8 virtual machines, but there are 30 machines in the cluster, you need to license 30 virtual machines on each host.
When we officially made the query to Microsoft, the response was to refer to the rule that a license must be assigned before it can be used. If something happens on that cluster and all those machines suddenly move to one host, that host must already have the licenses assigned to it.
When you have more than seven virtual machines in a cluster, Datacenter licenses are always cheaper.
Microsoft licensing is not always obvious.
windows server
