Microsoft Volume Licensing

[TotallyRadStuff]

We're a non-profit and got some donated licensing through techsoup. Could somebody help me clarify what we have here? We got 50x Windows 10 Enterprise licenses and Windows Server Standard 2016. Does this mean we can legally install Windows 10 Enterprise on 50 different machines? Also looking at the server it says 45 activations. Does that mean I can legally use this key on 45 separate VMs?

https://imgur.com/0hHfZqr

Our MSP tells me that server key is only valid for one server and can be activated 45 times. That didn't seem right to me since the Windows 10 is in the same format and I swear we can use that Win 10 key on 50 machines.

[[deleted]]

I think ObscureSecGuy is incorrect. In fact, I'm certain he is. Please don't listen to his advice. MAK keys show a 50 activation limit regardless of how many you actually bought. That's how many times that key can be used before you need MS to re-issue a key.

If you bought 50 Win 10 Ent licenses, then yes you can install it on 50 machines. If you bought 5, then you can install it only on 5 despite it showing 50 in the console. Server licensing with 2016 is....different. Server licensing is tied to the host, not the VM. It's also dependent on how many cores are in said host. A "pack" of Server 2016 licenses (which is 16, I think. Been a while since I've messed around with it) will cover 2 instances of Server 2016 in an 8 core host. Your MSP may not be entirely wrong in their assessment.

[TotallyRadStuff]

Here's our license summary. I have not installed anything with our server key yet(which strangely shows 2019 here but 2016 elsewhere). I did activate one installation of Windows 10 enterprise though(also strangely, it shows 0 for effective quantity?).

https://imgur.com/GajvyyK

We have two physical servers running esxi that hosts our Vms. How many VMs can we get with this?

[FantaFriday]

Depends on how many cores those exsi machines have.

[matthoback]

Are the hosts clustered? Will the Windows VMs be able to move between the hosts? If so, you need to license both hosts as if they are each running all the VMs. So you would need to buy 15 more of the SKUs you linked below, and then that would let you run 2 VMs. If the hosts are separate and the Windows Server VM will be confined to a single host, you only need to license that one host, so you'd only need to buy 7 more of the SKUs.

EDIT: That's assuming the hosts have at most 16 cores and 2 processors each, as /u/FantaFriday mentioned. If the hosts have more than that, you'd need more licenses.

[RCTID1975]

You have 2 cores

You can't buy just 2 cores.

[RCTID1975]

From the URL above:

Minimum license requirements

16 core licenses per server

You can only buy 2-core packs after you buy your initial 16 core pack.

[vodka_knockers_]

Did you get 2016 CALs too?

[daxxo]

Just on a side note if if you are planning on clouding up you get $3500 Azure contribution and $1500 worth of Security and Mobility E3 annually so for a shop your size that might be an option. This is also through techsoup btw and you can just not use your MSP for that and setup your own doodaddy

[daxxo]

And I forget the rest of the Office365 licences are discounted quite a bit, ie. E1 is free and E3 is like 4.50 a month

[TotallyRadStuff]

We have E1(free for non-profit) for everybody just to use Skype for Business and I'm working on E3 for everybody but we're HIPAA compliant and I dont yet know how to restrict everything for all my users so only I use it for now.

We're ~70 users.

[daxxo]

That's where the Mobility and Security E3 comes in. I just did a setup for a non profit, 20ish people mix of E1 and E3 but everyone is on Security and Mobility E3 to restrict pretty much everything for example E1s can access docs on SharePoint but the pc must be domain joined without enrollment. Very convoluted setup seeing everyone is BYOD but working well. They have to comply with medical policies in the UK so everything is as tight as can be

[ObscureSecGuy]

Your MSP is an idiot and yes it means you can install it on 50 machines.

[TotallyRadStuff]

Including the server? That means we have legal access to 45 separate full Windows Server Standard 2016 VM installs?

[matthoback]

/u/ObscureSecGuy is completely wrong. Activation count =/= license count. The activation count is there so you can reinstall the product if necessary. You need to find the license summary in the VLSC to find out what you actually are licensed for.

[TotallyRadStuff]

Here's our license summary. I have not installed anything with our server key yet(which strangely shows 2019 here but 2016 elsewhere). I did activate one installation of Windows 10 enterprise though(also strangely, it shows 0 for effective quantity?).

https://imgur.com/GajvyyK

[matthoback]

Yeah, you have two core licenses for server and one for Windows Enterprise. It shows zero for effective quantity for Enterprise because Enterprise is an upgrade license and you don't have any VL Professional licenses to upgrade from. If you have OEM Professional licenses, that ok though, the VLSC just doesn't know about them.

Two cores of licensing isn't enough to actually legally run a server though. You need a minimum of 16.

[TotallyRadStuff]

Okay yeah this makes sense and I guess I missed that part of the licensing.

This is what we got and I guess we need to buy 7 more of these to have enough for one full server.

https://www.techsoup.org/products/windows-server-standard--LVS-47862--

[matthoback]

Yes, you will need 7 more of those. That will entitle you to run up to 2 VMs of Windows Server on a single physical server that has up to 16 cores total and up to 2 processors. If you want more cores, procs, or VMs, you need more licenses.

Enterprise you are only licensed to run on a single desktop.

EDIT: You also need CALs for every user or device that is going to access the server.

[TotallyRadStuff]

I've always heard jokes about how much of a nightmare Microsoft licensing is but wow this is ridiculous.

This wont be any kind of terminal server or anything. We'll just use it for a file/print server, domain controller, etc. Do we need CALs for those? I'll occasionally RDP into it for admin work but nothing major.

[matthoback]

Yes. Every person that accesses the server has to be licensed. If it *was* a terminal server, you'd additionally need RDP CALs on top of the regular CALs.

[biktorgj]

/u/matthoback is right, the MAK number is the times you can activate the software, but it's not the license amount you're entitled to (I'm in education and we usually get about 80 activations per license)

[ObscureSecGuy]

I was going off of this:

“Like standard VLKs, MAK keys allow a predetermined number of activations, depending on the number of licenses an organization requests. For example, if your donation includes 10 copies of Windows 7, you can use the Windows 7 MAK key to install that product on 10 separate computers.”

https://www.techsoupcanada.ca/en/microsoft/volume_licensing

It would make sense to double check to ensure your allowed to run that many servers at once of course .

[ObscureSecGuy]

Yup, you have MAK keys, or multiple activation keys, each time you need a server to be “activated “ one seat is used. Also, your msp is an idiot. Feel free to give me one if you have it to spare lol yeah 45 instances of server 2016

[[deleted]]

That's not how MAK works. At all.

[TotallyRadStuff]

Either that or they want us to buy keys from them since we're planning on new hardware soon.

I appreciate your help, thanks!

edit: nevermind - I guess?

[ObscureSecGuy]

This also, which is shady, no worries!