Core Infrastructure Suite Primer

The Core Infrastructure Suite (CIS) offerings license a server to run Windows Server and be managed by System Center. A CIS license is essentially a bundle that inherits its licensing model, edition lineup, and virtualization rules from its two component products: Windows Server and System Center.

Each CIS license covers up to two physical processors in a server. A single- or dual-processor server requires one CIS license, whereas a four-processor server requires two licenses. This is the same licensing model for licensing Windows Server 2012 (or later) or System Center 2012 (or later) separately.

There are two CIS editions, with CIS Standard edition including the equivalent of Windows Server Standard and System Center Standard, and CIS Datacenter bundling the Datacenter editions of Windows Server and System Center. Both CIS editions provide the same technical capabilities but differ with respect to virtualization rights. A CIS Standard license allows the customer to simultaneously run up to two Windows Server—based virtual machines (VMs) managed by System Center. A CIS Datacenter license allows a customer to run an unlimited number of Windows Server—based VMs on a physical server and manage these (and other non-Microsoft server workloads) using System Center.