Licensing in a database mirroring scenario.

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Paul - 27 Mar 2006 17:04 GMT

We will employ SQL2005 database mirroring. I've read the licensing FAQ,
but it doesn't say whether the mirror server needs a SQL license itself or
not. Does database mirroring fall under the 'failover' licensing?

Does anyone know??

Thx.

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Jasper Smith - 27 Mar 2006 18:40 GMT

As long as it used purely for failover and is not accessed by users then you
don't need a license on the mirror

"When doing failover support, a server is designated as the passive server.
The purpose of the passive server is to absorb the data and information held
in another server that fails. A passive server does not need a license,
provided that the number of processors in the passive server is equal or
less than those of the active server."

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/howtobuy/sqlserverlicensing.mspx

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HTH,
Jasper Smith (SQL Server MVP)
http://www.sqldbatips.com

> We will employ SQL2005 database mirroring. I've read the licensing FAQ,
> but it doesn't say whether the mirror server needs a SQL license itself or
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> Thx.

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Gerry S - 27 Mar 2006 21:46 GMT

Would anyone know if this applied to the "Witness" Server also?

I am submitting a preliminary budget quote and would like to be as accurate
as I can in pricing?

Thanks in advance,

Gerry S.

> As long as it used purely for failover and is not accessed by users then you
> don't need a license on the mirror
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> >
> > Thx.

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Jasper Smith - 27 Mar 2006 22:31 GMT

Nope, the witness is active in the mirroring configuration. However, you can
use a free edition such as SQLExpress for the witness (as far as I remember)

Signature

HTH,
Jasper Smith (SQL Server MVP)
http://www.sqldbatips.com

> Would anyone know if this applied to the "Witness" Server also?
>
[quoted text clipped - 29 lines]
>> >
>> > Thx.

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Paul - 30 Mar 2006 16:28 GMT

> As long as it used purely for failover and is not accessed by users then you
> don't need a license on the mirror
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/sql/howtobuy/sqlserverlicensing.mspx

The one reason I brought this issue up was as follows.....

ServerA/B have 5 DBs (since its a mirror)
A failure of DB1 causes the DB1 to failover from ServerA to ServerB

Meanwhile ServerA is still serving DB2,DB3,DB4,DB5. At this point both
servers could have people connecting in some form.

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