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SQL Server 2005 CPU Licensing with Multi Core Technology

By: Chad Boyd | Read Comments | Print Chad is an Architect, Administrator and Developer with technologies such as SQL Server, .NET, and Windows Server. Related Tips: More

Problem
In addition to hyper-threading (i.e. multiple threads execute on a single physical CPU appearing as 2 logical CPUs) and dual-core technology (i.e. a single CPU socket that has more than 1 core appearing as multiple logical CPUs), chip vendors are beginning to release processors with more than 2 cores.  I am considering purchasing a new SQL Server with multi-core processors to support a SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition deployment.  What are the impacts when using a 4-core processor with SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition?  Will I only be able to make use of a single physical CPU since Standard Edition is limited to 4 CPUs? Additionally, what is the overall licensing policy in relation to multi-core technologies with SQL Server 2005?

Solution
One key competitive licensing advantage of SQL Server is related to this exact question - for the purposes of both licensing and CPU edition support, SQL Server considers the number of physical sockets/CPUs, regardless of the number of cores on the processor.  So, for example, if you are planning to deploy SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition, which supports up to 4 CPUs, that means Standard Edition will support 4 physical CPU sockets, regardless of the number of cores in each CPU.  If you have 4 physical CPUs with 4 cores each, then your SQL Server Standard Edition deployment would have 16 logical CPUs to make use of. Additionally, even though you have 16 cores/logical CPUs, the licensing of this requires that you pay for only the 4 physical CPUs, not all 16 cores.  This offers a very attractive return on investment (ROI) for any organization looking at the latest hardware with SQL Server 2005. 

For additional information on SQL Server 2005 and multi-core licensing, reference the SQL Server Multicore Licensing Policy article.

Next Steps

• With these new CPU options, research these options with your hardware vendor of choice to see what opportunities are available with their latest and greatest servers
• If your applications are CPU bound and you are unable to tune the SQL Server and queries any further, then research the multi-core opportunities to meet your CPU needs
• Keep in mind the huge pricing advantage for SQL Server 2005 with support for multiple cores when you start to look at other DBMS's in your environment or considering upgrading
• Special thanks to Chad Boyd from the MSSQLTips.com community for this tip.  

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Last Update: 1/26/2007

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