SQL Server

Product Conditions:

Provides additional information related to acquiring the Product, such as prerequisites for purchase, prior versions, and the applicable Product Pool.

SQL Server Enterprise (Server/CAL)

Existing SQL Server Enterprise (Server/CAL) customers may renew their SA on Server Licenses acquired under that License Model, however new Server Licenses for SQL Server Enterprise (Server/CAL) are no longer available. Existing SA customers upgrading to a new version should refer to the November 2019 Product Terms for SQL Server Enterprise (Server/CAL) License Terms.

SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse

SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse is a deployment option for SQL Server Enterprise Core customers. Customers are eligible to use only the software builds made available during the term of their SA coverage.

Identifies the License Terms for each Software Product, including the Universal License Terms, the applicable License Model, and any Product-Specific License Terms. References in Customer’s volume licensing agreement to “Use Rights” refer to the terms included in the Use Rights section of each Software Product Entry.

Automatic Updates to Previous Versions of SQL Server

If the SQL Server software is installed on Servers or devices running any supported editions of SQL Server prior to SQL Server 2012 (or components of any of them) this software will automatically update and replace certain files or features within those editions with files from this software. This feature cannot be switched off. Removal of these files may cause errors in the software and the original files may not be recoverable. By installing this software on a Server or device that is running such editions you consent to these updates in all such editions and copies of SQL Server (including components of any of them) running on that Server or device.

SQL Server Platform Selection

SQL Server Licenses are platform agnostic and permit deployment and use on Windows or Linux platforms.

Running Instances for Standard Edition

For each Server License, software may be run in only one Physical OSE or Virtual OSE at a time, but Customer may use any number of Running Instances of the server software in that OSE.

Distributed Availability Groups Use Limitations for Standard Edition

Customer may use Distributed Availability Groups on SQL Server Standard Edition to establish database replication with Azure resources only.

Fail-Over Servers for Parallel Data Warehouse (PDW)

The PDW Appliance is a single unit made up of two or more compute nodes (Licensed Servers) all controlled by a single PDW control virtual machine (Virtual OSE). Technology is built in to the appliance which allows the software to fail-over to another compute node on the appliance. Customer does not need additional Licenses for the software running in fail-over OSEs as executed by the PDW Appliance technology.

Use of SQL Server with Container Technology

For purposes of licensing use of SQL Server software running within a container on a container runtime such as docker, cri-o, or containerd, (i) a container is considered to be a Virtual OSE, and (ii) the Physical or Virtual Cores available to that container are considered to be Hardware Threads. Customer’s use is subject to the Per Core License Model or Server/CAL License Model and any other License Terms relevant to the SQL Server Licenses Customer has appropriately assigned to the Licensed Server in connection with that use. For clarity, if hyperthreading is enabled and Customer is licensing use under the Virtual OSE Per Core License Model, Customer must assign a Core License for each Hardware Thread mapped to a container, subject to a minimum of four Licenses.

Data Collection

The Data Protection Addendum applies to the Product, except (1) the DPA's statement of compliance with ISO 27001, ISO 27002, and ISO 27018 does not apply, and (2) use of all data processed by Internet-based Features is governed by the Microsoft Privacy Statement (aka.ms/privacy) and not the DPA, unless other terms accompany such Internet-based Features.

Additional Software

Per Core

For Products under the Per Core License Model, Customer must choose either Licensing by Physical Core on a Server or Licensing by Individual Virtual OSE. The terms for each are set forth below.

Server Licenses (per core) – Licensing by Physical Core on a Server

1. Customer may use the server software on a Licensed Server, provided it acquires sufficient Server Licenses as described below.
2. The number of Licenses required equals the number of Physical Cores on the Licensed Server subject to a minimum of four Licenses per Physical Processor.
3. For Enterprise edition, Customer may use any number of Running Instances of the server software on the Licensed Server in a number of Physical OSEs and/or Virtual OSEs equal to the number of licenses assigned to it.
4. For each additional Enterprise edition License that Customer assigns beyond the number of Licenses required under paragraph 2 above, it may use the server software in one additional OSE on the Licensed Server.
5. For other editions, Customer may use any number of Running Instances of the server software only in the Physical OSE on the Licensed Server.

Server Licenses (per core) – Licensing by Individual Virtual OSE

Available for subscription licenses or licenses with active Software Assurance only:

1. Customer may use any number of Running Instances of the server software in any Virtual OSE on the Licensed Server, provided it acquires sufficient Licenses as described below.
2. The number of Licenses required equals the number of Virtual Cores in the Virtual OSE, subject to a minimum of four Licenses per Virtual OSE.
3. If any Virtual Core is at any time mapped to more than one Hardware Thread, Customer needs a License for each Hardware Thread to which it is mapped.
4. Customer may reassign any of its Licenses to any of its Licensed Servers located within the same Server Farm as often as needed. Customer may also reassign these Licenses from one Server Farm to another, but not on a short-term basis (i.e., not within 90 days of the last assignment).

Server/CAL

Server Licenses (per Instance)

For Products under the Server/CAL License Model, customer may use one Running Instance of server software in either a Physical OSE or Virtual OSE on a Licensed Server for each License it acquires.

Subscription licenses or licenses with active Software Assurance only. All CALs used to access the software under this model must also be acquired as subscription licenses or have active Software Assurance: When licensing by Virtual OSE, Customer may reassign any of its Licenses to any of its Licensed Servers located within the same Server Farm as often as needed. Customer may also reassign these Licenses from one Server Farm to another, but not on a short-term basis (i.e., not within 90 days of the last assignment).

Access Licenses

1. Except as described here and noted in the Product-Specific License Terms, all server software access requires CALs or CAL Equivalent Licenses.
2. CALs are not required for access by another Licensed Server.

Client access licenses may be assigned by user or device, as appropriate. A user CAL allows access to corresponding version of the server software or earlier versions of the server software from any device by one user. A device CAL allows access to corresponding versions of the server software or earlier versions of the server software from one device by any user. CALs allow access to server software running on Customer’s Licensed Servers only.

Server Software Access

Identifies terms and conditions associated with Software Assurance coverage. For details on purchasing Software Assurance and general Software Assurance Benefits, also refer to Software Assurance Benefits.

SQL Server Enterprise Core - Unlimited Virtualization

When licensing by physical core, customers with active Software Assurance may run any number of instances of the server software in any number of OSEs on any Licensed Server.

SQL Server Standard/Enterprise Core – Unlimited Containers

When licensing by Virtual OSE, customers with active SA may run any number of instances of the server software in any number of containers in the Virtual OSE on the Licensed Server. When electing this benefit, a container is not considered to be a Virtual OSE.

SQL Server – Fail-over Rights

For each of its Primary Workloads, Customer is entitled to:

• One Fail-over OSE for any purpose, including high availability, on any Server (subject to the Outsourcing Software Management clause); and
• Two Fail-over OSEs specifically for disaster recovery purposes:
  • one on any Server (subject to the Outsourcing Software Management clause) and
  • one on Microsoft Azure servers, subject to Ratio of Qualified Licenses to Azure vCores as stipulated in the Azure Hybrid Benefit terms for SQL Server.

Customer may also run Primary Workloads and its disaster recovery Fail-over OSEs simultaneously for brief periods of disaster recovery testing every 90 days. Customer may perform the following maintenance-related operations for any permitted Fail-over OSE:

• Database consistency checks or Checkdb
• Log Back-ups
• Full Back-ups
• Monitoring resource usage data

Fail-over OSEs permitted for disaster recovery must be asynchronous and manual. Fail-over OSEs may not serve SQL Server data to users or devices or otherwise run active SQL Server workloads. The number of licenses that otherwise would be required for a Fail-over OSE must not exceed the number of licenses required for the corresponding Primary Workload. These fail-over rights require SA for both the Licensed Server and CALs, if any, and do not apply when Customer deploys SQL Software under License Mobility through SA.

Use of SQL on Microsoft Azure

When using SQL Server on Azure under Azure Hybrid Benefit rights, or Disaster Recovery Rights, Customer should indicate such use, as prompted in the Azure portal or Azure command line APIs.

Use of Power BI Report Server – SQL Server Enterprise Edition

Customer may run Power BI Report Server software on the Licensed Server, on any allowed Fail-over OSE in accordance with those same limits, or in Azure. Customer may run the software on a maximum numbers of cores equal to the number of SQL Server Enterprise Edition Core Licenses with active SA assigned to the Licensed Server, subject to a minimum of four core licenses per OSE. Alternatively, if the software is run in Azure, Customer must allocate one SQL Server Enterprise Edition Core License with active SA per virtual core, subject to a minimum of four core licenses per OSE. Use is additionally subject to the applicable terms of Customer’s volume license agreement. A Power BI Pro User SL is required to publish shared Power BI reports using the Power BI Report Server. This right expires upon expiration of Customer’s SA coverage.

Extended Security Updates

Refer to Extended Security Updates in Software Assurance Benefits for acquisition and use of Extended Security Updates.

SQL Server Enterprise Core - Parallel Data Warehouse Feature Updates

Customers with SA coverage are eligible for Parallel Data Warehouse feature releases (e.g., appliance updates) available between major product releases.

SQL Server Buy-Out Option under the Enrollment for Application Platform EAP

Customer may renew SA for SQL Server Enterprise Server/CAL Licenses, but the only buy-out option at the end of Customer’s enrollment term will be for core Licenses.

Please note these resources are provided for reference purposes only and are not considered to be part of the Product Terms. To see more versions and languages click here.