Server Licensing Backs Consolidation

Server application licensing rules will soon be loosened to reduce costs for Microsoft customers who want to use partitioning technology to consolidate servers or gain spare capacity. The new licensing model should help customers make effective use of the more powerful Intel-architecture servers on the way, and could boost Microsoft’s efforts to move customers to its newest server operating system, Windows Server 2003. However, it’s not clear what versions of that system will support the new model or how it will be enforced.

Licensing Made Partitioning Expensive

The new rules will affect all server applications that can be licensed per-processor, such as SQL Server, Internet Security and Acceleration Server, and BizTalk Server, and take effect April 1, 2003. The rules concern applications running on “partitioned” servers. Partitioning is a hardware and software technology that divides a server’s processors and other hardware resources into logically separate sections, each with its own operating system and applications. Partitioning is possible today with Windows 2000 Advanced Server and Datacenter Server on specialized server hardware from vendors such as Stratus and Unisys. It’s also possible on conventional server hardware with software products such as the Connectix VM technology recently acquired by Microsoft. (See “Connectix VM Technology Acquired“.)