Another licensing question...

Hi,
Here is a brief intro about our application.
1) The client is a Borland C++ application acting as the front
end.
2) The client sends requests to our web server (IIS) over HTTPS.
3) The web server invokes a windows service.
4) The windows service calls a COM+ component.
5) The COM+ component accesses a SQL Server 2000 EE (Cluster). We
have 4 processor licenses.
6) There are few other applications, which run on another server,
accessing the SQL server also.
7) The COM+ component forwards client requests (after some
processing) to these applications.
8) These applications send the requests to external parties,
usually over one/two (not more) TCP connections.
9) The external parties send the responses to our requests
10) The responses from the external parties are routed back to the
clients thru the COM+ component.
When the client is started on the end user's desktop, it throws up
a logon screen where the user enters his user ID and password. This is
the first request from the client to the web server. If the
authentication (the user IDs and paasswords are stored in the SQL
server) is successful, he can send more requests (order entry
application). We have about 20 users right now who access the system
this way.
The client software is available for free download, but the user
ID/password is handed over only to a very restricted set of people. We
charge certain $$ per user per month.
We are duplicating this environment in another data center.
Now my question is since we have only about 20 users accessing the
SQL server, is it enough to get 1 server license and 20 CALs? There
may be other users, who might connect but fail to authenticate, though
that is a very very rare case. Even though they are invalid users, do
they make a genuine case for going for processor licenses?
Thanks & regards
zrbI suggest you consult a Microsoft representative about this. What you
have described *may* constitute hosting. The standard retail licence
has a "no commercial hosting" clause so you may need to purchase a
service provider licence.
I say "may" because I have no real idea what Microsoft classes as
commercial hosting. In any case an authorised rep should be able to
give you a definitive answer.
David Portas
SQL Server MVP
--|||Thanks. I am thoroughly confused now. :-) I'll contact a MS rep on
this.
David Portas wrote:
> I suggest you consult a Microsoft representative about this. What you
> have described *may* constitute hosting. The standard retail licence
> has a "no commercial hosting" clause so you may need to purchase a
> service provider licence.
> I say "may" because I have no real idea what Microsoft classes as
> commercial hosting. In any case an authorised rep should be able to
> give you a definitive answer.
> --
> David Portas
> SQL Server MVP
> --|||Also, if I have 4 processor licenses (we paid $80,000 for them), but
have 2 Dual Processor servers, does this entitle me to install SQL
server on the two servers? In the same vein, can I go for 4 single
processor servers? :-)|||Yes. A processor licence is just that - per processor. You just need a
licence for each processor in each server.
David Portas
SQL Server MVP
--