SQL Server 2022 is now generally available and with it come some licensing changes you need to be aware of. Microsoft also announced that SQL Server pricing will be going up 10% starting January 1st, 2023, however there are some exciting new features included in SQL Server 2022.
It’s been quite a long time since Microsoft has made major licensing changes to SQL. Microsoft has made available a new SQL Server Licensing guide and a new SQL Server Licensing Datasheet. Here are the key licensing changes you need to be aware of:
- Licensing SQL by virtual machine with core licenses is now a Software Assurance/Software Subscription benefit
- SQL Server licenses with active Software Assurance or purchased as Software Subscription are eligible for the Flexible Virtualization Benefit which enables customers to use their licenses with any Authorized Outsourcer’s shared hardware
- When licensing SQL by virtual machine an organization can run SQL Server in any number of containers in the virtual machine
- Customers with active Software Assurance /Software Subscription may now use Azure SQL Managed Instance as their preferred fail-over server option in Azure for Disaster Recovery
There’s also now a new pay-as-you-go SQL Server licensing model made possible with Azure Arc. According to Microsoft, customers can now “select pay-as-you-go billing through Microsoft Azure to install a Standard or Enterprise edition without supplying a pre-purchased product key. The billing granularity is one hour, and the charges are calculated based on the SQL Server edition and the maximum size of the hosting server at any time during that hour.” This new licensing model is a great option for seasonal businesses that only experience high demand during a small portion of the year, and for any organization that needs a flexible SQL licensing option.
But wait there’s more! Microsoft also announced new SQL Server features:
- Bi-directional high availability and disaster recovery between Azure SQL Managed Instance and SQL Server. For the first time you’ll be able to do failover from SQL Server 2022 to Azure SQL Managed Instance.
- Azure Synapse link integration with SQL for ETL-free, near real-time reporting and analytics over your operational data. Microsoft is removing silos between your operational and analytic workloads.
- Azure Purview integration allows you to now get visibility over your SQL Server data in the context of your entire data state.
- SQL Server Ledger brings the power of blockchain technology to verify changes by other parties, so that you can retain an immutable record of the data.
- New next-generation built-in query intelligence with parameter sensitive plan optimization will bring performance to the next level. It caches more than one plan for a stored procedure for consistent query performance.
You can learn more about SQL Server 2022 and try it here.
CloudServus, a recognized Gold Tier Microsoft Partner, provides expert support via a comprehensive Microsoft Licensing Assessment to help organizations derive the most value from their Microsoft licensing across the lifecycle.
CloudServus has been able to help many customers optimize their SQL licensing footprint. Contact CloudServus today so we can walk you through how Microsoft’s recent licensing changes may have an impact on your organization’s licensing needs, and what your options are.
