Updated: July 15, 2020 (July 18, 2016)

Server/CAL Licensing Rules for Recent SQL Server Versions

Wes Miller analyzes and writes about Microsoft’s security, identity management, and systems management technologies. Before joining Directions on Microsoft, Wes... more

Several changes have been made to licensing use rights, edition lineup, and pricing over the past four versions of SQL Server licensed under the Server/CAL License Model.

SQL Server Version	2008 R2	2012	2014	2016
Released	May 2010	Apr. 2012	Apr. 2014	June 2016
Standard Edition
Pricing	US$898
Downgrade rights	Earlier versions of Standard edition
OSEs per license	One
Reassignment rights	At least 90 days must pass between reassignments	No SA: At least 90 days must pass between reassignments With SA: Unlimited within server farm
Passive failover exemption	Yes (no SA required)	Yes (but impractical without SA)	Yes (but requires SA)
Max RAM utilization	64GB RAM		128GB RAM
Max CPU	4 physical processors	Lesser of 4 processors or 16 cores		Lesser of 4 processors or 24 cores
Enterprise Edition
Pricing	US$8,592

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