Demystifying SQL Licensing on Multi-Core Systems
I read this excellent question and its response today in this month's TechNet Magazine SQL Q & A. Thought you'd be interested in the clarification on SQL licensing for multi-core systems...
Q: In addition to hyperthreading and dual-core technology, chip vendors are beginning to release processors with additional cores (four, eight, and more). I am considering purchasing a new server with multi-core processors to support a SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition deployment and am curious if, when using a four-core processor, I will only be able to make use of a single physical CPU (since Standard Edition is limited to four CPUs)?
Click below for the answer...
A: For the purposes of both licensing and CPU edition support, SQL Server considers only the number of physical sockets/CPUs, regardless of the number of cores on the processor. So, for example, the fact that SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition supports up to 4 CPUs means it will support 4 physical CPU sockets, regardless of the number of cores in each one (if you have 4 physical CPUs with 4 cores each, your Standard Edition deployment would have 16 logical CP Us to make use of). Moreover, even though you have 16 cores/logical CPUs, the licensing requires only that you pay for the 4 physical CPUs, not all 16 cores. For more information on SQL Server and multi-core, see http://www.microsoft.com/sql/howtobuy/multicore.mspx.
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