Microsoft Changes SQL Server Enterprise Virtualization License

Previously, in its Enterprise Editions, Microsoft offered unlimited virtualization rights for all licensed processors in a system. According to this report on The Whir, SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition now only supports up to four virtual instances. Unlimited virtualization rights are available in the Datacenter Edition.

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According to one report, to gain unlimited virtualization rights, customers will need to purchase the new Datacenter Edition of SQL Server 2008 R2.

"In previous incarnations, Enterprise Edition had offered unlimited virtualization rights for all licensed processors in a system. A report from SearchSQLServer.com, an online resource for SQL Server professionals, points out that SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition only supports up to four virtual instances. 'To gain unlimited virtualization rights, customers will need to purchase the new Datacenter Edition, which costs twice as much as Enterprise Edition: $54,990 per processor (without Software Assurance), compared to $27,495.'

"With SQL Server 2008 R2, Microsoft has added Datacenter Edition and the upcoming Parallel Data Warehouse Edition for virtualization environments, and has limited virtualization privileges in the Enterprise Edition upon the R2 release."

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