Licensing Virtual Machines Running SQL Server Standard

The number of processor licenses required to run SQL Server Standard inside a virtual machine (VM) depends on how many physical processors are inside the server, the processor architecture, the virtualization technology, and how the VM is configured. Shown here is an example of how to license a simple system, a dual-processor server (bottom) running three VMs (top) using Microsoft’s Hyper-V virtualization software.

The basic rule is straightforward—when SQL Server Standard edition is licensed under the per-processor model, enough processor licenses must be allocated to each VM to cover the maximum amount of processing power the VM can theoretically use. Processor power is measured with a unit equivalent to a physical processor in the server. A physical processor—sometimes referred to as a CPU, socket, or occasionally as a package—is a chip visible on a computer’s circuit board. The maximum processor power available to a VM, and thus its license requirements, are determined by how processor power is subdivided and allocated to the VM.