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Prepare for SQL Server 2012 today with Coeo

Microsoft have just announced the editions and license policy for SQL Server 2012. This new release of Microsoft’s database server software is not due for several months, however we already see significant new opportunities for customer to benefit from the new capabilities. In fact, we are already working with some of our customers to leverage these benefits via Microsoft’s early adoption programmes for SQL Server 2012.

There will be three editions of SQL Server 2012:

  • Enterprise - premium features for mission critical applications and large scale data warehouses
  • Business Intelligence - a new edition, building on the success of PowerPivot and Reporting Services, SQL Server 2012 deepens and broadens the areas of self-service end-user BI tools, this edition includes new services such as PowerView (formely Project Crescent) and Data Explorer
  • Standard - basic database, reporting and analytics capabilities

In other licensing changes - Developer, Express, Compact and Web editions will be only available via the Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA) model. Datacenter Edition will be retired.

Changes to license types

SQL Server 2012 will continue to offer two options:
1. Per core (previously known as per processor) based on computing power
2. Server and Client Access License (CAL) based on user or device usage

The licensing model has changed from what we’ve known in recent years with consolidation to three editions:

  • Enterprise Edition (EE) will be licensed based on compute capacity measured in CPU cores (rather than CPU sockets as in previous versions)
  • Business Intelligence (BI) Edition will be available in the Server + CAL model, licensed by the number of users or devices
  • Standard Edition (SE) will have the option of both license models to address a wide variety of basic database workloads

SQL Server 2012 brings many benefits are we’re excited about designing and supporting our pre-release programme customers as they are to be using it already. If your business is just as interested in benefiting from SQL Server 2012 then we’d be happy to help de-mystify the best licensing model and help with your journey to adoption.

Contact Us to find out more.