SQL Server Product and Licensing Options - Q10221

Background:

Since software licensing compliance is an issue for all organizations, it is important that software vendors whose products interface with 'third party' applications and services, clearly define licensing options and considerations for all integrated products. Such is the case with Lightspeed TTC Security Server and Microsoft SQL, and through this document we hope to clarify the software product selection and licensing options related to the use of Microsoft SQL Server in conjunction with Lightspeed TTC.

The following SQL licensing items should be clarified at the outset:

• Workgroup Edition licensing language does not clearly describe the conditions that define the term "indirect access" as it relates to network users of SQL databases. This can be a critical issue since the TTC Spam Email Summary report that is sent to each email user, provides them the option to selectively forward to themselves a copy of spam email items. This action could be considered to be in violation of SQL Server 2005 - Workgroup Edition licensing requirements if a user CAL did not exist for EACH user of that report.

If you are merely upgrading an existing TTC Security Server with the latest TTC software, it is unnecessary - and frankly of no operational benefit - to replace your existing SQL Server product, this assuming you are running a support version of SQL.

What SQL Products can be considered?

• SQL Server 2005 (SQL Server 2005 Features Comparison)
  • Express – Not Supported due to SQL limitations.
  • Workgroup – Supported, but may not be adequate for your environment. The edition of SQL has built in constraints limiting it to 3 GB of RAM and only 2 CPUs.
  • Standard – Supported and adequate for 99.9% of environments. Limited to 4 CPUs.
  • Enterprise – Supported, however is overkill for most environments.
• SQL Server 2008 (Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Editions)
  • Compact 3.5 – Not Supported due to SQL limitations.
  • Express – Not Supported due to SQL limitations.
  • Developer – Not Supported due to SQL licensing.
  • Web – Not Supported due to SQL licensing.
  • Workgroup – Supported, but may not be adequate for your environment. The edition of SQL has built in constraints limiting it to 3 GB of RAM and only 2 CPUs.
  • Standard – Supported and adequate for 99.9% of environments. Limited to 4 CPUs.
  • Enterprise – Supported, however is overkill for most environments.

Which SQL product should you use?

To minimize expense without sacrificing productivity for the typical TTC managed network, we suggest SQL 2005 or 2008 Workgroup Edition. If your environment requires SQL to use more than 3 GB of RAM or more than 2 CPUs then we recommend SQL 2005 or 2008 Standard Edition.

How are SQL products Priced?

The three licensing options are Per Processor, Per Server plus Device CALs and Per Server plus User or Client CALs.

• Per Processor – The Per Processor pricing is based upon the number of processors (CPU's) in the server that would be running an instance of the SQL Server software. Again, this would be the typical solution in a large enterprise, data warehousing environment. This option requires no individual user licenses (CALs) and the product is priced accordingly.

• Per Server plus Device CALs and Per Server plus User or Client CALs – The Per Server plus Device/Users pricing is a license for a single server (single or multiple CPUs) running SQL, plus a license for a minimum number devices or users accessing SQL. This is a much more cost effective pricing model, especially when there are minimal requirements for user-access of the database as is the case with the TTC Security Server. This SQL pricing model is set with a minimum purchase of 5 user licenses (CALs), although two (2) 'administrator' licenses are included as part of the Windows Server operating system - such as Windows Server 2003 and the SQL Server product.

Which license option should you purchase?

Lightspeed recommends SQL Server 2005 or 2008 Workgroup - Per Server plus User CALs option, again only if it suites your operational requirements. This is the minimum licensing option for the SQL product that is adequate for most TTC Security Server environments where database access and traffic report generation is being performed by no more than 7 users. If your administrative structure is such that you may have more users directly engaged in report generation activities, you should consider increasing the number of User CALs to purchase.

In circumstances where numerous end users are directly accessing the SQL database (i.e. multiple traffic reports administrators), it may be more cost effective for districts to select the Per Processor license rather than the server license with individual CALs.

It should be noted that TTC operations will not be impeded by the inadvertent or infrequent database reporting queries that might exceed the number of User or Device CALs.

For more information on licensing options, requirements and pricing, please review:

• SQL Server 2005 - How to Buy
• SQL Server 2008 - How to Buy

If you have further questions about SQL product selection, licensing and pricing options for your environment, please contact sales@lightspeedsystems.com, or "your" authorized Microsoft Vendor.