Windows Server 2003 Pricing and Licensing: Frequently Asked Questions

No. You can acquire Windows Server 2003 R2 licenses and exercise your downgrade rights to use Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 products.

Yes. Downgrade rights are applicable regardless of which channel you used to acquire your license.

If you purchased via Open Licensing, Volume Licensing, Software Assurance, or if you purchased the full retail product in question, contact Microsoft fulfillment services in your region. They may be able to assist you, though media may not be available for all previous product versions. If you obtained your server with software preinstalled from a partner or OEM, they may be able to assist you. You may also use your own previous edition media, if available.

If you purchased via Open Licensing, Volume Licensing, Software Assurance, or if you purchased the full retail x64 edition of Windows Server 2003 R2, contact Microsoft fulfillment services in your region. If you obtained your server with Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 edition preinstalled from a partner or OEM, they may be able to assist you. Contact them to determine their media fulfillment policies. You may also use your own 32-bit edition media, if available.

Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter, Enterprise, and Standard Editions are all available in 64-bit versions.

The Microsoft Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA) enables service providers to license Microsoft products on a monthly basis to provide services and hosted applications to their end customers. Please visit Microsoft Services Provider Licensing Agreement for more information.

The 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the software are the same price. The license grants the customer the option of using either the 32-bit version or the 64-bit version of the software. Client access licenses (CALs) are still required to access or use the server.

You are required to license Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition for every physical processor, however, you do not have to license additional Windows Server licenses for virtualized instances of Windows Server running on processors licensed with Datacenter Edition.

Customers who purchase through Volume License will be able to receive their media in their traditional kits, just like the other versions of Windows Server.

Please visit the licensing of new features and related technologies page for licensing requirements and feature availability information.

Microsoft and its partners offer discounts from their retail product prices if you acquire your licenses in certain quantities, or volumes. There are several volume licensing programs that offer companies of all sizes economical ways to buy and manage multiple software licenses for as few as five desktops.

Software Assurance (SA) is a way for volume licensing customers to keep current with the latest, most innovative Microsoft products. Under the SA program, customers acquire the right to install any new release of a product covered in the agreement during the term of the coverage. Software Assurance now also includes more benefits for the same price, including problem resolution support during business hours for covered server products, access to Managed Newsgroups and Online Concierge Chat, and Microsoft's self-paced training courses.

Upgrade Advantage is a type of license that no longer exists (as of July 31, 2002). It gave the licensee the right to install any new release of the product for which UA was acquired for the duration of either two years or expiry of the term of the customer's volume license agreement—whichever was shorter.

If you are a Select or Enterprise Agreement customer, you will receive the most up-to-date software in your monthly Select Kit. If you are an Open customer, contact your reseller (or Microsoft Licensing Fulfillment Center, if applicable) to order the relevant software.

Yes. The list of examples in the End User License Agreement is not exhaustive but is instead meant to illustrate some common uses of the server software. If a device or user is accessing or using the server software, a CAL is required, unless:

In order to continue to enjoy the benefits of staying current, you can enroll the affected product licenses in Software Assurance through a volume license agreement. Contact your Microsoft account representative or reseller for further detail.

We assessed this option but decided that a per processor model did not fit with the way in which the product is used. Because Windows Server can be used and configured in so many different ways (for example, file and print server, authentication server, Web server, or applications platform), it was deemed to be more appropriate to base its license rights and price on a more scalable model so cost increase parallels increased usage. The server/client access license (CAL) model is a flexible model that allows more cost-effective options to organizations of all sizes.

The Windows Server 2003 R2 license gives the license holder the right to install and use the server software. The Windows CAL grants the right for a device or user to access the server software. The two-component license provides a low entry price and a way to pay for capacity used: the more devices or users accessing the server software, the greater the license fees or price. The model therefore offers license affordability to organizations of all sizes.

A Windows CAL is required when a user or device accesses or uses the server software. However, if access is through the Internet and is unauthenticated (for example, when browsing a public Web site), a Windows CAL is not required. Also, if that user is an external user, another option is to acquire an External Connector license. See the Windows External Connector License section below for more detail. Further information is available at the External Connector License Overview.

No. The Windows Server CAL requirements are the same. What has changed, however, is the language that specifies when a CAL is required. The Windows 2000 Server license agreement defined the product services which required a CAL (e.g. file, print, remote access, terminal services, and authenticated access). In practice, most customer usage of Windows 2000 Server accessed the file services and/or authentication features of the product and therefore required a CAL. Customer feedback indicated that it was difficult to know if a particular usage scenario met those definitions. So, for Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2, Microsoft has provided more specific language to clarify when customers require CALs.

Yes. The list of examples in the License Terms is not exhaustive but is instead meant to illustrate some common uses of the server software. If a device or user is accessing or using the server software, a CAL is required, unless:

A Windows CAL is required when a user or device is directly or indirectly accessing a Windows server. Additionally, if the user or device is accessing or using the terminal server functionality of Windows Server Standard and Enterprise Editions, a TS CAL is also required. As an exception to these rules, up to two users or devices may access the server software only for server administration purposes, without requiring either a TS CAL or Windows CAL.

A Windows Device CAL permits one device (used by any user) to access or use the server software. A Windows User CAL permits one user (using any device) to access or use the server software; the same holds true for TS Device CALs and TS User CALs.

Microsoft is introducing another type of CAL to provide choice to address customers' changing needs. Some customers require a solution where employees need to gain access to the company's corporate network using devices that the company doesn't own or control, and for which a device-based CAL cannot be readily acquired. Other customers prefer to count employees rather than devices for licensing compliance, because it is simpler.

Yes. Windows Device and User CALs can be used on the same server. For ease of management and tracking though, Microsoft recommends that customers choose to acquire CALs on either a device or user basis.

Yes. TS Device and User CALs can be used on the same server. For ease of management and tracking though, Microsoft recommends that customers choose to acquire CALs on either a device or user basis.

No. Windows Server 2003 Device CALs and Windows Server 2003 User CALs are priced the same, just as Windows Server 2003 TS Device CALs and Windows Server 2003 TS User CALs are the same price.

When the software comes packaged with CALs, you choose whether those CALs are User or Device CALs after you make the purchase on the CAL End User License Agreement document. In other words, you choose the type of CAL once you get the product.

The different types of CALs are outlined above. See Device and User CALs.

Different licensing modes only apply to Windows CALs and pertain to how to assign the Windows CALs.

Customers will be able to choose either Core Device CALs or Core User CALs for their Enterprise Agreement (EA) enrollments. By standardizing at an enrollment level, Microsoft can help maintain the simplicity and ease of tracking provided by the Core CAL and EA.

No. A CAL must be the same version (or later) as the server it is accessing. Therefore, access to a Windows 2003 Server or Windows Server 2003 R2 must be licensed with a Windows 2003 Device or User CAL.

Yes. Both Windows Server 2003 User and Device CALs can be downgraded to access a Windows 2000 server.

Yes. You may downgrade Windows Server 2003 TS CALs. However, both TS User and Device CALs will act as device-based CALs when accessing a Windows 2000 terminal server, as TS User CALs are not supported.

During set-up, the Terminal Server Licensing Management (TSLM) will prompt you to choose.

Yes. You must designate your Windows CALs as Device or User when you upgrade them. If you exercise your one-time right to convert Device CALs to User CALs mid-contract, you simply record the change for your records. When Software Assurance comes up for renewal, all the new specifications (for example, number of User CALs, number of Device CALs) are documented and revised in Microsoft Volume License Services' records.

For TS CALs, when you request TS CAL tokens through Terminal Server Licensing Management, you are prompted to specify User or Device.

Customers who have active Software Assurance coverage for Windows Server CALs under agreements signed on or before April 1, 2003 may change their Windows Device CALs to Windows User CALs at the time of the annual true-up process. These transition rights can also be applied in the same way for switching from TS Device CALs to TS User CALs for TS CALs covered by SA under agreements signed on or before April 1, 2003.

Customers with current Software Assurance for CALs acquired after April 1, 2003 may switch their Device CALs to User CALs and User CAL to Device CALs upon renewal of their Software Assurance coverage for those CALs.

As part of the TS CAL Transition Plan, customers who had rights to Windows XP Professional licenses as of April 24, 2003 get rights to complimentary Windows Server 2003 TS CALs. These customers can then acquire Software Assurance, if they wish, for these complimentary TS CALs to gain the benefits of upgrade protection by acquiring these special TS transition CALs. In other words, the only customers eligible to acquire TS transition CALs are those customers who qualified to receive complimentary Windows Server 2003 TS CALs.

An EC license is not mandatory. It is a licensing option available to address a specific customer scenario. When you need to allow your business partners or customers to access your network, you have two choices:

External Connector licenses should be acquired for each Windows server that the external user is accessing (not just for the server to which they are authenticating).

An external user is a person who is not an employee, or similar personnel of the company or its affiliates, and is not someone to whom you provide hosted services using the server software.

Yes, and thus the student can be covered under an External Connector license.

Yes. This is permitted, and its use on a Windows 2000 server maintains the rights of the External Connector license.

Yes. This is permitted. However, due to technical incompatibility, the TSEC will take on the rights and limitations of the Windows 2000 TS Internet Connector license—including access to the Windows 2000 terminal server being limited to anonymous access through the Internet and maximum 200 concurrent connections.

Internet Connectors are applicable to Windows 2000 servers. They can be acquired for all of the following—instead of purchasing CALs for each of the Internet Users' devices:

TS Internet Connector also has some unique limitations as noted in questions above.

External Connector licenses are applicable to Windows Server 2003 servers. They can be acquired for servers which External Users will access—instead of purchasing individual CALs for each of the Users. Unlike Internet Users above, valid External Users include business partners.

These are being removed as licensing options because they have not sufficiently addressed customer needs and are confusing to apply. The availability of User CALs, Device CALs, and External Connector licenses should satisfy the vast majority of customer scenarios.

Customers who own Windows 2000 IC and TSIC licenses with Software Assurance attached can upgrade their licenses to a Windows Server 2003 External Connector (EC) and TS External Connector (TSEC) respectively, when they upgrade their server software to Windows Server 2003.

Customers who own Windows 2000 IC and TSIC licenses without SA attached, who want to provide their external users with access to their servers, will need to acquire new External Connector licenses when they upgrade their server software to Windows Server 2003. Alternatively, customers without SA could acquire CALs for each of their external users.

Terminal Services, as found in Windows Server 2003, lets you remotely execute applications on a Windows-based server from a wide range of devices over virtually any type of network connection. When a server is configured in the Terminal Server role (formerly called Terminal Services Application Server mode), it can be referred to as a Terminal Server (TS).

The Terminal Services functionality is included with the acquisition of a Windows Server license. However, when a user or device accesses a terminal server, that user or device is required to have a TS CAL (in addition to a Windows CAL) in order to be compliant with the licensing terms of the product.

When using any software including, but not limited, to Terminal Services that hosts a graphical user interface for applications or desktops for use by users. Please see the EULA or PUR for more information.

Yes. TS CAL tokens will be managed by the Windows Server 2003 TSLM. The process for receiving TS CALs for Windows Server 2003 is the same as with Windows 2000 Server.

The license rights applicable to your terminal server(s) govern.

You simply input the information when prompted when requesting Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server CALs via the Terminal Server Licensing tool. The information is validated and TS CAL tokens are issued.

Desktop equivalency is a concept that has been used in relation to licensing terminal services. When terminal services became one of the functions of Windows Server, it had special licensing requirements. Namely, when Terminal Server was used, it required a Terminal Server Client Access License (TS CAL). However, when a device accessing a Windows NT Server 4.0 terminal server had a valid Windows NT workstation desktop license, the TS CAL requirement was waived. Similarly, when a device accessing a Windows 2000 terminal server had a valid Windows 2000 Professional license, the TS CAL requirement was waived; in other words, that device had desktop equivalency. Furthermore, when a device accessing a Windows 2000 terminal server had a valid Windows XP Professional license, TS CAL equivalency was granted because Windows XP Professional was a more recent desktop operating system than Windows 2000 Professional.

Devices and users accessing a Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server require a TS CAL. This is no different from past licensing requirements for the use of terminal services. However, TS CALs are required for Windows XP Professional licensees because desktop equivalency has been removed.

Microsoft has removed equivalency for two main reasons:

To achieve greater consistency within the new Microsoft software licensing framework. The change to Terminal Server (TS) licensing is consistent with broader efforts to improve the licensing of Windows Server 2003.

To reflect the increased value of Terminal Services. Microsoft has added new functionality to Terminal Services in the Windows Server 2003 release which provides greater value and a better out-of-the-box solution than previous releases. Microsoft believes customers will find increased business value in these features through money saved in administration and deployment costs. For more information, read the Technical Overview of Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services.

Microsoft realizes that the removal of desktop equivalency will affect customers and is committed to accommodating existing Microsoft customers who would like to take advantage of Windows Server 2003 features.

For answers to commonly asked questions regarding the TS CAL transition, visit Terminal Server CAL Transition Plan: Frequently Asked Questions.

The process varies depending on how the corresponding Windows XP Professional licenses were acquired. Refer to the two scenarios below.

Scenario 1: Windows XP Professional licenses acquired through volume licensing Using the Install Licenses function of the Terminal Server Licensing administration tool, a customer needs to provide volume licensing program information (enrollment number, agreement number, or license and authorization numbers) depending on program type, along with the requested quantity and type of TS CAL tokens. The information entered into the Terminal Server Licensing administration tool will be validated by the Microsoft Clearinghouse, and assuming that the request for tokens falls within the boundaries of the entitlement, license tokens will be installed onto the Terminal Server License Management server.

Scenario 2: Windows XP Professional licenses acquired through retail or OEM channels Customers who acquired Windows XP Professional licenses through these channels will have received a product key with their software. Customers should go to the transition Web site to input the product key using the Install Client Access License Tokens option. Eligibility will be validated through the transition Web site. Once validation occurs, the customer will receive a license key pack (via the Web site) that should be entered into the Terminal Server Licensing administration tool.

Per Session licensing was evaluated in the beta and RC1 prerelease versions of Terminal Server in Windows Server 2003. During the evaluation period, Microsoft received customer feedback that Per Session licensing was good, but that it was being used as a substitute for Per User licensing. In addition, Microsoft has received regular feedback recommending that consistency in licensing should be a top priority. User licensing is being offered for Windows Server 2003; therefore, user licensing for Terminal Server is more consistent with Windows Server and is more in line with the future direction of Microsoft licensing programs.

Windows Server 2003 Web Edition can be obtained by Microsoft customers through the Volume Licensing programs, through Microsoft original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and system builders (SBs), and through service providers with a services provider licensing agreement (SPLA). Windows Server 2003 Web Edition is also available through a limited number of resellers. For a listing of some of our partners, visit the Purchasing Options page.

No. Windows Server 2003 Web Edition can be used solely to deploy Web pages, Web sites, Web applications, and Web services. For more information, see the Overview of Windows Server 2003 Web Edition.

No. Windows CALs are not applicable to Windows Server 2003 Web Edition. However, Web Edition can be used as the scale-out front end for applications such as Windows SharePoint Services and Windows Rights Management Services. In these scale-out configurations, Windows CALs will be required since Web Edition servers are connecting to backend applications running on Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition and above.

Windows Server 2003 Web Edition is designed specifically for dedicated Web serving needs, and its functionality has certain limitations as follows:

No. Windows Server 2003 Web Edition is a limited, scaled-down version of the other editions of Windows Server 2003 R2. It does not offer any additional functionality. There are, in fact, functionality limitations as noted in the question above.

No. There is no R2 version of Windows Server 2003 Web Edition. The new features developed for Windows Server 2003 R2 Editions are not applicable to the workloads provided by Windows Server 2003 Web Edition. The Web Edition will still continue to be available and is recommended for Web serving needs.

Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition can be purchased through Volume Licensing and through original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The IA64/64-bit version and the Datacenter High Availability Program are only available through OEMs.

The Server/Client Access Licensing (CAL) model applies to Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition. However, the server license component differs for Datacenter Edition, in comparison to Standard or Enterprise Edition, in that the cost of the server license varies with the number of processors installed on the Datacenter server. For further detail, see Licensing Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition.

Yes. If the Datacenter server is being accessed or used, a CAL is required for every user or device, unless the access is anonymous and gained through the Internet.

Yes. You may run custom web applications on Windows Server 2003 Web Edition including Web pages, Web sites, Web applications, and Web services. For more information, see the Overview of Windows Server 2003 Web Edition.

Windows Server 2003 R2 is priced and licensed the same way as Windows Server 2003. No pricing changes have been made. Windows Server 2003 R2 will be available through all the regular sales and licensing channels.

Windows Server 2003 R2 will be available through all the regular sales and licensing channels.

No. New CALs are not required for Windows Server 2003 R2. Existing Windows Server 2003 CALs will work with Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2.

No. As part of Software Assurance benefits, you will receive the rights to upgrade your servers to Windows Server 2003 R2.

If you want to upgrade to Windows Server 2003 R2, you will need to purchase a Windows Server 2003 R2 license for each server that you will be upgrading. Unlike service packs and feature packs, Windows Server 2003 R2 is the full operating system and requires a new server license.

Volume license customers who have servers under Software Assurance or as part of their Enterprise Agreement will automatically receive Windows Server 2003 R2 as part of their Select CD disk fulfillment.

No. But if you are running Windows Server 2003 now, you should install Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 as soon as possible to receive all the improvements made in security, reliability, and performance.

No. You will be able to move to Windows Server "Longhorn" from either Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2003 R2.

No. Windows Server 2003 R2 is focused on three scale-out workloads. The editions that include these workloads are:

Yes. There will be x64 editions of Windows Server 2003 R2. These editions include:

Windows Server 2003 R2 is more than just a roll-up. There are only three Windows Server 2003 feature packs included in Windows Server 2003 R2, and these feature packs have been updated since their initial release. For a complete list of Windows Server 2003 R2 features, read the Windows Server 2003 R2 Product Overview.

Service packs deliver fixes and patches to our customers. Windows Server 2003 R2 is not a service pack. It is an update release of the Windows Server 2003 operating system and contains new functionality that is not available anywhere else.

Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) provides product updates to the Windows Server 2003 operating system. Windows Server 2003 SP1 contains additional features to increase security and improve functionality. Windows Server 2003 SP1 is a free product update and can be easily downloaded or ordered on CD.

Get more information about Windows Server 2003 SP1.

Windows Server 2003 R2 is an update release of the Windows Server 2003 operating system that is built on top of Windows Server 2003 SP1 and includes new product features, including improvements to branch office management, identity and access management, and storage management. Windows Server 2003 R2 requires a new server license and is available for purchase through the same channels as Windows Server 2003.