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We've 1500 users (no connection from internet/extranet). This number is stable and will be stable. These users will use around 150 different databases each of them have not a really intensive workload and not really large (between 1Go and 100Go, total of 5 To). We want to use SQL Server 2016.

According to my calculations, I've the following possibilities:

Standard edition per server/CAL:

  • 1500 CAL = 270k$
  • 10 servers = 10k$ (each with max. 24 cores = 240 cores)
  • Total = 280k$

For the same amount, if I use the Standard edition per Core licensing model

  • 280k$ / 3.8k$ (price per 2-cores) = 150 cores (around 6 servers)

and if I want to add an additional server, the first option will cost me only 1k$ and the second 40k$ (for 24-cores).

According to many info on the net, the per server/cal licensing is designed for company with a really low number of users (less than 30). But my calculations show that in my case I should go for this type of license (and I've many more users).

I'm lost and I think there is mistake somewhere but can't spot it.

  • I misinterpreted the licences or missed something in the licensing model
  • I've too many servers for this potential workload and should go for less cores. 100 cores is probably more than needed to handle 1500 users and 5To according to your experience.
  • Anything else?

Thx for sharing your expertise on this.

Cédric L. Charlier
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1 Answers1

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We do not handle your legal things here, but seriously - ONE proper server should be able to handle all that load. 2-3 in hardware (2 in licensing) if you need proper redundancy. Grab a decent setup with plenty of SSD and put in 128+gb memory and I see no reason in general to use that many servers.

SQL in general (excelt OLAP queries and some data loads) puts extremely low load on CPU - you are much more likely to run out of IOPS (IO budget) which is why plenty of RAM (for caching) and a good IO subsystem is key. A decent 2x16 core server (eyeing the new AMD server chips here) should give you plenty of room CPU and RAM wise to handle everything. Using 10 servers assumes a hardware scalability of around 1990 - OR extremely special requirements, which you do not talk about.

TomTom
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