Microsoft Licensing Portal
When I am teaching classes, my students sometimes ask me questions about licensing for various Microsoft products. Back in the NT days, it was relatively easy to tell students how the licensing worked because there were only a few options. In recent years, it seems easier to get a PhD in Nuclear Physics then to try and understand licensing for Microsoft products. In fact, the licensing has become so complicated to understand that I doubt if even Microsoft sales people have all the answers to our questions.
Luckily, Microsoft has this Volume Licensing portal which is very helpful. Microsoft deserves credit for creating this Web site full of useful information. Consider it a Microsoft licensing encyclopedia. Besides other great information, it also includes an online Microsoft Licensing Advisor (MLA). This advisor is a wizard that walks you through your particular scenario and gives you a quote.
SharePoint Licensing
SharePoint licensing is a bit more complicated because it involves Windows Server and SQL Server in addition to SharePoint Server. If you are looking for SharePoint licensing, this SharePoint Licensing Q&A is a great resource.
Another good resource for SharePoint is a third-party tool called SharePoint Price Calculator from Bamboo Solutions. This is not a licensing tool but it helps you figure out the total cost of SharePoint and its related products, such as Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008.
SharePoint 2010 can be used to set up intranet, extranet, and Internet sites.
Intranet sites are licensed using a Server/CAL (Client Access License) model. SharePoint Server 2010 is required for each running instance of the software, and CALs are required for each person or device accessing a SharePoint Server.
Extranet and Internet sites are licensed using a Server-only model—no CALs are required.
Here are some additional details from Microsoft’s Web site.
SharePoint Server 2010: Intranet Scenarios
The Standard CAL delivers the core capabilities of SharePoint 2010:
- Sites: A Single Infrastructure for All Your Business Web Sites
- Communities: An Integrated Collaboration Platform
- Content: ECM for the Masses
- Search: Relevance, Refinement, and People (excludes FAST Search)
- Composites: Do-It-Yourself Business Solutions (excludes Access Services and InfoPath Services)
For more details on the specific features in the Standard CAL, see Edition Comparison.
Enterprise Client Access License
The Enterprise CAL delivers the full capabilities of SharePoint 2010:
- Sites: A Single Infrastructure for All Your Business Web Sites
- Communities: An Integrated Collaboration Platform
- Content: ECM for the Masses
- Search: Relevance, Refinement, and People includes FAST Search)
- Composites: Do-It-Yourself Business Solutions (includes Access Services and InfoPath Services)
- Insights: BI for Everyone (includes PerformancePoint Services, Excel Services, and Visio Services)
Note that the Enterprise CAL is additive: To access the Enterprise edition features, a person/device must have both the Standard CAL and Enterprise CAL. For more details on the specific features in the Enterprise CAL, see Edition Comparison.
SharePoint Server 2010: Internet/Extranet Scenarios
SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites, Standard
SharePoint for Internet Sites, Standard, delivers the core capabilities of the SharePoint 2010 Standard CAL for use on an Internet or extranet site. This server license is designed for small and mid-sized companies, and deployment is limited to a single domain and related subdomains. A domain is a combination of a public domain (such as .com, .net, .org) and a second-level, proprietary domain (such as MyCompany, MyOrganization, MyClub). Examples of valid domains are MyCompany.com, MyOrganization.net, and MyClub.org. Subdomains are any URL prefixes to the left of the second-level domains.
SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites, Enterprise
SharePoint for Internet Sites, Enterprise, delivers the full capabilities of the SharePoint 2010 Enterprise CAL for use on an Internet or extranet site. This server license also includes the rights to FAST Search for use in Internet or extranet scenarios. You can deploy a single server license of SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites, Enterprise, as a SharePoint server or a FAST Search server—but not both concurrently.
If you don’t find answers to all your questions on Microsoft’s Web site, you can contact Microsoft in United States at 800-426-9400. In Canada, contract Microsoft representative at 877-568-2495.
Summary of Resources
