Help for licensing and proper product for us.

Hi,
I read the licensing page, but still i'm confused ... as always with
licensing stuff.
I have a VB 6.0 application (.exe) that establish the connection to my
Access database, but we might want to switch to SQL Server2000 in a near
future.
Our situation
--
Maximum # of users to use my VB application will be 20. That means I will
deploy my VB app on 20 computers. BUT my VB application will always logon t
o
the database using the same user.
What would be the best licensing model for me considering all these facts?
1- Connection established from a VB application interface.
2- 20 computers will run the VB application
3- On the 20 computers running the VB app, the SQL user to establish the
connection will always be the same. So only 1 user.
Few more users won't use the VB app and will connect to the database from
the Entreprise Manager (2-3 users)
SQL Server...
Entreprise or Standard. I wonder if standard can do the job for us, it is a
lot cheaper. I think yes. What's the big difference between the two? We
don't need the super big thing here.
Thanks for helping.
Dominic.SQL User = End user for licensing. A license User is not the same as a
connection or a login. Count the TOTAL number of users that access the
data. That is how many CALs you need. If the CAL cost exceeds a
per-processor license, purchase a per-processor license.
Your VB application is considered "middleware" or a "user aggregator" for
licensing purposes. As such you remove it from consideration entirely.
Enterprise vs. Standard Edition SQL choice should be based on which features
you need. IMHO a decent application with 20 or fewer users should work just
fine on Standard Edition.
Geoff N. Hiten
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
Senior Database Administrator
Careerbuilder.com
I support the Professional Association for SQL Server
www.sqlpass.org
"dbelley_office" <dbelley_office@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F93D8030-77CD-4EDE-87D6-D05BCC44DBF3@.microsoft.com...
> Hi,
> I read the licensing page, but still i'm confused ... as always with
> licensing stuff.
> I have a VB 6.0 application (.exe) that establish the connection to my
> Access database, but we might want to switch to SQL Server2000 in a near
> future.
> Our situation
> --
> Maximum # of users to use my VB application will be 20. That means I will
> deploy my VB app on 20 computers. BUT my VB application will always logon
to
> the database using the same user.
> What would be the best licensing model for me considering all these facts?
> 1- Connection established from a VB application interface.
> 2- 20 computers will run the VB application
> 3- On the 20 computers running the VB app, the SQL user to establish the
> connection will always be the same. So only 1 user.
> Few more users won't use the VB app and will connect to the database from
> the Entreprise Manager (2-3 users)
> SQL Server...
> Entreprise or Standard. I wonder if standard can do the job for us, it is
a
> lot cheaper. I think yes. What's the big difference between the two? We
> don't need the super big thing here.
>
> Thanks for helping.
> Dominic.|||Ok.
So if I have 1 computer accessing the data. But 3 users can be working on
that computer.
The cheaper and legal licensing model for me would be to go with the Server
Plus Device CAL, right? And would only buy 1 license.
-- ON THE OTHER HAND --
If I have 3 computers accessing the data, but only 1 user can be working on
that computer.
Than I would go with the Server Plus User CAL, right? And again would only
buy 1 license.
---
For Server Licensing.
I'm not familiar with SQL Server and won't be my task to administrate it.
But if I want 2 or more instances of database ( Production, QA, Development
). Is this all reside on the same server installation so only 1 server
license is enough.
Or I can only install 1 database on a machine(production) and other(qa &
dev) would need to be on other machine? So I would need 3 server licenses?
I guess I can have multiple instances on only 1 computer, but I only want to
make sure. This technical stuff is not my field of expertise.
Thanks.
"Geoff N. Hiten" wrote:

> SQL User = End user for licensing. A license User is not the same as a
> connection or a login. Count the TOTAL number of users that access the
> data. That is how many CALs you need. If the CAL cost exceeds a
> per-processor license, purchase a per-processor license.
> Your VB application is considered "middleware" or a "user aggregator" for
> licensing purposes. As such you remove it from consideration entirely.
> Enterprise vs. Standard Edition SQL choice should be based on which featur
es
> you need. IMHO a decent application with 20 or fewer users should work ju
st
> fine on Standard Edition.
> --
> Geoff N. Hiten
> Microsoft SQL Server MVP
> Senior Database Administrator
> Careerbuilder.com
> I support the Professional Association for SQL Server
> www.sqlpass.org
> "dbelley_office" <dbelley_office@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in messa
ge
> news:F93D8030-77CD-4EDE-87D6-D05BCC44DBF3@.microsoft.com...
> to
> a
>
>|||I would call your local Microsoft office and ask to speak to a sales and
licensing person. They are the only ones that have the 'Legal and Official"
answers.
Geoff N. Hiten
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
Senior Database Administrator
Careerbuilder.com
I support the Professional Association for SQL Server
www.sqlpass.org
"dbelley_office" <dbelley_office@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:B453E6CD-E0F7-4205-BB39-53D1D16D5778@.microsoft.com...
> Ok.
> So if I have 1 computer accessing the data. But 3 users can be working on
> that computer.
> The cheaper and legal licensing model for me would be to go with the
Server
> Plus Device CAL, right? And would only buy 1 license.
> -- ON THE OTHER HAND --
> If I have 3 computers accessing the data, but only 1 user can be working
on
> that computer.
> Than I would go with the Server Plus User CAL, right? And again would
only
> buy 1 license.
> ---
> For Server Licensing.
> I'm not familiar with SQL Server and won't be my task to administrate it.
> But if I want 2 or more instances of database ( Production, QA,
Development
> ). Is this all reside on the same server installation so only 1 server
> license is enough.
> Or I can only install 1 database on a machine(production) and other(qa &
> dev) would need to be on other machine? So I would need 3 server
licenses?
> I guess I can have multiple instances on only 1 computer, but I only want
to[vbcol=seagreen]
> make sure. This technical stuff is not my field of expertise.
> Thanks.
>
> "Geoff N. Hiten" wrote:
>
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