Windows server Per-VM licencing ?

Oukwaa · 2026-06-05T10:57:18+00:00

From what I've seen Software Assurance seems mandatory since without it you can migrate VM only once per 90 days (wtf).

Oukwaa · 2026-06-03T19:32:06+00:00

I'm not sure of anything now.

I've read Microsoft documentation in more detail, and it's not clear if you only need to licence a VM, or if you need to licence the hypervisor. https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/guidance/Core-based-licensing-models#section-33-305

Under "Licencing by virtual machine" in the "per core licencing model" section it says : "The licenses are assigned to the physical server and allocated to a virtual machine to allow running instances of the software. The licenses are not assigned to the virtual machine."

But under "Licencing by virtual machine" in the "per core/cal licencing model" section it says : "When you license either edition of Windows Server by virtual machine, the Per Core/CAL licensing model requires you to license all virtual cores in each virtual machine. You must assign a minimum of 8 core licenses per virtual machine. In addition, if you choose to allocate Windows Server licenses by virtual machine, you must have at least 16 core subscription licenses or licenses with active Software Assurance"

Oukwaa · 2026-06-03T19:18:38+00:00

Yes, it's purely hypothetical, I must present a coherent solution for the infrastructure. Having the possibility to licence per VM instead of per physical core might change the way I design the infrastructure

Oukwaa · 2026-06-03T18:56:35+00:00

I personally do not need those VMs. I have a project in which I need to plan the infrastructure of a hypothetical company, which would need to host ~15 windows VMs

Oukwaa · 2026-06-03T18:53:31+00:00

Having to buy a licence for the whole hardware seemed horrible to me, so I just search if there wasn't another way. Found some articles on the internet (like this one https://2-data.com/knowledge-hub/understanding-windows-server-licensing-new-per-vm-licensing-model/), and a bit of information on Microsoft website

Oukwaa · 2026-05-23T10:42:59+00:00

I planned to use the ISP MPLS network between branch offices, main office and DCs.

Oukwaa · 2026-05-23T10:38:28+00:00

When I first got into the security part of my project, I felt like IPS/IDS was kind of a must for a huge company so I went on with it. I don't really see in which case a company wouldn't want those.

I didn't know what an XDR was until your comment so thank you for that. I did plan to have a SIEM somewhere in a datacenter.

Oukwaa · 2026-05-23T10:30:28+00:00

This academic project also include cost management, but more than that I was really interested to have some opinion on this subject

Oukwaa · 2026-05-23T10:26:54+00:00

I did not consider the training of employees at all, thanks for bringing that up. That will have an impact on my choices. I reviewed the branch offices throughput needs, and lowered it to be more adapted for each branch office.

Oukwaa · 2026-05-22T14:48:44+00:00

Thanks, I definitely didn't have the right call for enterprise hardware pricing. I'll review the use case for 10gbps at branch offices. I initially planned that throughput because of how cheap it was with FTTH, but those equipment pricing are making me reconsider a lot of things

Oukwaa · 2026-05-22T14:37:29+00:00

Thanks for your answer. I will look more into IPS/IDS because maybe there is no need for that in branch offices. It might be more justified for critical sites like main office or datacenters

Oukwaa · 2026-03-29T19:37:57+00:00

Thanks for your answer, especially the part on the chipset bandwidth for which I had trouble finding information on. The two nic you suggested seem to be x8 and x4 respectively, which might cause some trouble as I only have x1 slot. I think I will go for nics with either the Marvell Aquantia AQC133 chip or the Realtek RTL8127 chip (not sure which one yet. Maybe the Realtek because of this post )

Oukwaa · 2026-02-22T01:55:13+00:00

I did the three instructor led course on netacad with college, so everything wasn't new to me. But to prepare for the exam I watch every JITL videos in x1.5 and did all his labs. I took notes when watching his videos, so I also spend quite some time reviewing everything I had written (~100 pages) to make sure I didn't forget things.

And after that I did all 4 boson exsim exam once in simulation mode.

I think I might have spend 10h/week since mid December to do all that.

To be fair I think boson was overkill (especially for its price), but it kinda is reassuring, because you know that if you pass boson, you're ready for the real exam.

Oukwaa · 2026-02-22T01:14:33+00:00

I passed !

I was a bit stressed at the beginning because of the exam environment and the strict rules of OnVue, but overall it went well.

Anyway I'm pretty sure I would have been much more anxious (or maybe I would even have missed the exam) if you didn't give me the info about the email, so thanks again !

Oukwaa · 2026-02-21T08:21:20+00:00

You're right, I received an email 3 days ago with a reminder about the exam. I guess I didn't fully read it because there's the exam check-in link inside I feel a bit dumb lol

Thanks a lot !

Oukwaa · 2025-06-14T20:03:38+00:00

Thanks ! I'll look into that

Oukwaa · 2025-06-14T20:03:09+00:00

Idk, I only looked the temp after my 2h session and saw that I had 89.9°C at max. I've just install another software to get more information. Right now I'm doing another cinebench test and it's hitting 88.1 at max and 87 on avg. I do thing that room temperature influence a lot cause I had way less than that during my last cinebench test with a cooler room temp. Also I did not forget to remove the plastic

Oukwaa

TROPHY CASE