Rules for SQL Server CALs

More than a dozen Microsoft server products, including SQL Server, use Client Access Licenses (CALs). While many of the rules governing purchase and use of CALs for other Microsoft products also apply to SQL Server, customers should be aware that there are some notable differences.

In the server-CAL model, an organization purchases a server license for each machine running the server software and a CAL for each client, which gives one person or physical device the right to connect to and use any instance of the server product running within the organization. Whereas other Microsoft server products are licensed under the server-CAL model exclusively, SQL Server gives customers the option to license Enterprise, Standard, and Workgroup Editions using the server-CAL model or a per-processor model (which doesn’t use CALs).

Complies with General CAL Rules

The following rules associated with SQL Server CALs are consistent with other Microsoft server products:

CALs can be assigned per-user or per-device. A User CAL gives one person the right to access all instances of the server product from any device. User CALs are attractive when users employ several devices, such as both a desktop and a portable computer. A Device CAL licenses a particular device to access all instances of SQL Server running within the organization. Device CALs are useful for devices shared by multiple users, such as workstations in a 24-hour call center. While CALs can be permanently transferred between users or devices—for example when an employee leaves the company or a device is retired—customers cannot exploit the transfer provision to constantly reallocate CALs in an effort to cap their CAL purchases at the maximum number of concurrent clients.