Understand when to Report SQL Server SALs vs. Cores through your Service Provider License Agreement (SPLA)

The SQL Server Standard SAL is a commonly misunderstood and mis-licensed SPLA SKU, given the limited entitlements and specific use case scenarios.  Reporting it typically leads to significant compliance issues.

The first thing to understand is that SQL Server SALs are not available for the Enterprise Server Edition. You only have the option to report COREs under the Enterprise SKU.  We are not entirely clear as to the logic behind this, except maybe Microsoft not wanting to cannibalize their most expensive SPLA product.

Cost is the primary driver as to why people report SQL Standard SALs.  A simple calculation of the unit price, multiplied by the number of users, versus the cost of licensing the underlying sever cores, most often results in a favorable price advantage.

The definition of ‘users’, however, is precisely where a lot of Service Providers get it wrong.

As with a majority of Microsoft products, you are required to account for every unique individual that is granted indirect access (like through a website that is back ended with SQL Server Standard).  Some people think it’s just a count of the high-water mark of concurrent access, but that is not correct.

Another very common scenario is a front-end website, used by hundreds of anonymous users, back ended by SQL Server.  Without restricting access it is impossible to determine exactly how many unique individuals are indirectly accessing SQL Server.  Ultimately this makes the SAL option impossible to account for and can create a massive compliance exposure.

This begs the question: If I cannot count the number of unique users, how can a SPLA auditor?

The answer is, they would assume the environment should be licensed through COREs. The onus to prove otherwise sits with the SPLA Service Provider. You can try and dispute this, however, SPLA auditors will visit the website in question and, if it is obvious that indirect anonymous access is allowed, you could be forced to pay for SQL Server Standard COREs, going back 3 to 5 years.

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