Windows Server Licensing Head-to-Head for Azure Stack HCI

 

• Enterprise Agreement customers have four major options to license the Azure Stack HCI OS for hyper-converged infrastructure.
• Choosing the right licensing option requires balancing cost, rights, and technical capabilities.
• For most Enterprise Agreement customers, the strongest option will be Windows Server Datacenter with Software Assurance.

First released in late 2020, Azure Stack HCI is Microsoft’s OS for “hyper-converged infrastructure” (HCI), competing against VMware ESXi. Customers might evaluate Azure Stack HCI when upgrading HCI systems, particularly if replacing a system that currently runs on Windows Server Datacenter Hyper-V technology.

Azure Stack HCI is well suited for hosting Windows Server–based VMs, and this report analyzes options for licensing this combination of technologies. Several recent licensing changes have expanded the set of options, especially for Enterprise Agreement (EA) customers.

Azure Stack HCI Overview

HCI services typically provide virtualization and software-defined storage and networking on clustered server hardware. They can simplify and reduce the cost of data-center deployments compared with dedicated virtualization hosts, storage, and network devices. (See “Azure Stack HCI 22H2 Is Generally Available” on page 10 of the Feb. 2023 Update.)