Hyper-V and System Center Licensing

The below is only discussing Server Management. Client Management (e.g. desktop/laptops) not included in this discussion.


Hyper-V licensing:
1 Windows Server Standard lets you install 1 VM on top of the parent partition.
OR in the case of VMware, you may install 1 VM with Windows Standard License

1 Windows Server Enterprise lets you install 4 VMs. 1 Datacenter (Per Proc) lets you install Unlimited VMs as long as you licensed all Processors on the Host.

Example:
Customer wants to run 6 VMs on two ESX hosts. 4 VMs in Host A and 2 VMs in Host B.

License required:
2 Enterprise. 1 for each Host. Customer can run 2 more VMs on Host B.
OR
1 Enterprise + 2 Std.

When DRS move the VMs around, the licensing does not vary because when you calculate the licensing, it is based on the initial design stage.


The price for 2 Enterprise is similar as 1 Datacenter License. Technically, you can justify in the way that if there are more than 8 VMs on the Host, it might be cheaper to go Datacenter License for a single processor machine.

If it's 2 Processors, then more than 16 Vms should be able to justify.



System Center Licensing:
There are 6 components as to date in the System Center Product Family.
1. System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) - SW/HW Inventory, Patch, Software/App Distribution & Metering, O/S Deployment etc

2. System Center Operation Manager (SCOM) -
Monitor server health, performance and availability

3. System Center Data Protection Manager (SCDPM) -
Backup & Restore of Microsoft applications and servers

4. System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM)-
Manage multiple virtualization hosts, e.g. 2 Hyper-V hosts and 1 VMware host with 5 Virtual Machines in each host.

5. System Center Service Manager (SCSM)-
Service Mgmt system for Incident & Problem Mgmt, Change Mgmt and User Self Service (for software request etc.). Integrates with SCCM and SCOM.

6. Opalis
IT Process Automation, integrates heterogeneous management platforms to allow interoperability, e.g. SCCM <-> BMC Remedy


Each of the products comes with Managing License (ML) for each of the server you wish to manage. The ML also comes in Std and Ent version for different featuers, Ent version lets you monitor the Application (e.g. MSSQL, AD, Exchange)

Example,
Customer has 5 Physical Server, 1 of the Server is running 5 VMs, and wishes to use SCOM to manage the environment.

License required:
10 SCOM Std ML + 1 SCOM Server license



Example,
Customer has 5 Physical Server, 1 of the Server is running 5 VMs, 2 other servers are running MSSQL, and wishes to use SCOM to manage the environment.

License required:
8 SCOM Std ML + 2 SCOM Ent ML (For MSSQL) + 1 SCOM Server license



Only SCOM and SCCM requires server license. For SCDPM and SCVMM, only ML is required, there is no license for the server.

Example,
Customer has 5 Physical Server, 1 of the Server is running 5 VMs, and wishes to use SCDPM to backup the environment.

License required:
10 SCDPM Std ML
OR
4 SCDPM Std ML and 1 SCDPM Enterprise ML for the Host



SCVMM has an Workgroup Suite which lets you manage up to and only 5 Hosts, and all the VMs running on these 5 Hosts.

Example,
Customer has 5 Physical Server, all servers are running VMs, and wishes to use SCVMM to manage the environment.

License required:
1 SCVMM Workgroup License




SMSE and SMSD
SCSM and Opalis are the latest addition into the family. This addition affects the Server Management Suite Enterprise (SMSE) and Server Management Suite Datacenter (SMSD) packaging and price.

1. Server Management Suite Enterprise (SMSE) Per Device -
Includes Managing License for the 6 Products stated above. Only Managing License. Server license for SCOM and SCCM needs to be purchased seperately. For VMs, Enterprise Suite lets you manage up to 4 VMs.

2. Server Management Suite Datacenter (SMSD) Per Proc-
Includes Managing License for the 6 Products stated above. Only Managing License. Server license for SCOM and SCCM needs to be purchased seperately. For VMs,
Datacenter Suite lets you manage unlimited VMs on the licensed Host.



System Center Essentials
Targeting Mid Market Bundle, System Center Essentials offers the range of products in limited features. (You can only manage up to 30 Server and 500 Clients using Essentials)

The price for Essentials are much cheaper compared to SMSE and SMSD