SQL 2012 versions for DW

Question

Is anyone else having an issue with the new licensing model for SQL 2012?

I am running mu DW on SQL2008 R2 Enterprise in a active - active cluster on 24 cores total.
I have 2 tables of over 1 billion rows.  All large fact tables are partitioned and all large tables are page compressed.

The main issue is that we have a small number of users (around 40), so for SQL 2008, this is fine as we can run with Server/CAL's and the costs are fine.

For SQL 2012 though, we will have to go to a per core licensing model which will massively increase my costs (bit of a understatement really), or I need to uncompress and un-partition my tables and go with BI edition.

Anyone having the same problems or any ideas on how to get around this?

Thanks

Answer 1

This link provides overview on SQL Server 2012 licensing model.

Regards,

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Phani Note: Please vote/mark the post as answered if it answers your question/helps to solve your problem.

Answer 2

I do know the licensing model, its just that the model means a huge increase in licensing cost for my warehouse.

I was asking if anyone is in this situation and how they are looking to resolve it.

Answer 3

You can always implement your own "Partitioning" by creating multiple tables for all your fact data. There is no way around the licensing restrictions as far as I can tell.

Answer 4

Hello Michael, you can continue to use your existing server on premises and implement all new features using SQL Azure, this might save you some costs as you will have to pay for usage only. Other option is to take advantage of cloud optimized licensing:

Database virtualization - Cloud optimized licensing

With databases that use just a fraction of the compute power of a physical server, you can save by licensing individual database Virtual Machines (VMs).

• To license a VM with core-based licenses, simply pay for the virtual cores allocated within the virtual machine (minimum of 4 core licenses per VM).
• To license a VM under the Server + CAL model (for the Business Intelligence and Standard Editions of SQL Server 2012), you can buy the server license and buy associated SQL Server CALs for each user.
• Each licensed VM that is covered with Software Assurance can be moved frequently within your server farm or to a third party hoster or cloud services provider.
• Servers fully licensed with Enterprise Edition Core licenses with Software Assurance allow you to deploy an unlimited number of database VMs on the server (or server farm) in a heavily consolidated virtualized deployment to achieve further savings.

You can also upgrade your existing licenses to SQL 2012.

Contact your Microsoft representative or partner for more information, including what the Software Assurance and migration benefits your company is eligible for as well as how to purchase new or renew your existing licenses before these changes take effect.

• US: [phone]
• Canada: [phone]

Thanks, Vlad.

Answer 5

I suppose VM is a possibility, although our DW is off on its own hardware due to its size, plus we already have some powerful, multi NUMA node hardware that we use.  To virtualize is not a straight forward solution.

Answer 6

Hello Michael, those are available options as of today. Did you contacted your Microsoft representative or partner?

They might have some suggestions based on your existing licenses.

Best regards, Vlad.  

Answer 7

I believe you can still get Enterprise CALs through June if you have them with 2008, assuming you have this through your EA or EAP.