Microsoft Windows Server License

[Douglas <do...@gmail.com>]

Hello!

I have a question about licensing to use Apache Guacamole.
I have a Windows Server 2012 Std license and 5 Device Calls.
Whereas I'm going to put Apache Guacamole on just one device. Can I access
with 50 simultaneous users without restrictions?

Thanks

DRauber

Re: Microsoft Windows Server License

[sciUser <sh...@securitycentric.net>]

If you are going to use Microsoft licensing for Virtual Machines there are
two things to take in to account.
One are you selling a SaaS or DaaS service where end users are connecting to
a Microsoft Server Desktop.
Two or are you just allowing employees to connect to a desktop physical or
virtual.

If you are doing either SaaS/Daas you will need an SPLA volume license and
you pay per month per usage per allocation for a desktop.  The SPLA will
cover 95% of the Microsoft product line.

Now if this is just for employees connecting to a physical desktop normal
CALS are ok. 
If this is virtualized your Server 2012 Standard will be a violation as you
will need Server R2 2012.
Even if the OS is EOL, you will need to pay for the licensing. This is why
Windows 3.1 still sells for $100.00 

Fun fact, Windows 2012 and 2012 R2 come with 2 free RDP sessions per
installation, before terminal server is needed.  

In Windows 2016-19 you get 1 free RDP session before needing TS-CALS. 

Hope this Helps. 



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Re: Microsoft Windows Server License

[Nick Couchman <vn...@apache.org>]

On Wed, Jun 3, 2020 at 4:57 PM Douglas <do...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello!
>
> I have a question about licensing to use Apache Guacamole.
> I have a Windows Server 2012 Std license and 5 Device Calls.
> Whereas I'm going to put Apache Guacamole on just one device. Can I access
> with 50 simultaneous users without restrictions?
>
>
My first recommendation, here, is that you seek the expertise of a
Microsoft reseller that can help you with licensing.  One that you trust to
not just attempt to up-sell you on everything, but an expert on the
subject.  I offer the following advice based only on my experience and not
based on any official training I have...

Short answer, no, you are not covered...

==TL;DR==
Microsoft has two licensing models: Per-User and Per-Device, which are
pretty much what they sound like.  Per-user requires that you license each
and every user *that is authorized to use the system.*  Per-device requires
that you license each and every *end device that is authorized to use the
system.*  In *neither* case is the licensing based at all on concurrency.

So, in the per-user model, let's assume you have User01 - User50 that would
be logging into a Windows Server via Guacamole.  You are required to
purchase 50 User CALs to cover all of these users.  It's also worth noting
you are required to purchase 50 Windows Server User CALs *AND* 50 Remote
Desktop Servers (Terminal Services) User CALs, as the Remote Desktop
portion is licensed separately from the Windows Server portion.  In the
per-user scenario, it does not matter if only 5 users will be accessing it
at a time, or if all 50 users will be accessing it through a single point
(Guacamole), you must license all *USERS* that are authorized to log into
the system.

In the per-device model, let's say you have User01 - User50, all of whom
will be accessing the server through Guacamole.  You have to license all of
the *devices* that the users will be using to access the server through
Guacamole.  So, you cannot say that Guacamole represents a single device
accessing the server - Microsoft does not count this - they count the
actual device that the user is on that is logging into the server.  If each
user has two devices, you need to license 100 Per-Device licenses for both
Windows Server and Remote Desktop.  Obviously this can get a little
complicated when you do not have control over or even visibility into the
devices end-users use - and, in this case, I think you'd be advised to go
for the per-user model.

Microsoft also has some licensing to cover Internet-facing use-cases, where
you do not have the ability to realistically count the number of users or
number of devices, but, the take-away from that is the Micro$oft is going
to get their $$$$ - you're not getting away with that one easily.

Someone is welcome to jump in and correct me if I went wrong somewhere;
again, this is my experience and my reading of Microsoft EULAs, and I'm
pretty sure they employ enough lawyers to avoid little loopholes like this
:-).  And, again, seek advice from someone authoritative on the issue -
either a lawyer or a reseller.

-Nick