Windows Server Licencing

[AustralIan]

Hi all. How do you usually handle windows server licencing? If you have four shifts, you want to buy device CALs, but you need to buy a device CAL for everything that allows a user to interact with any of the services on your server.. so does that include PLCs? Does it include light stacks?
What if you go down the user CAL route because you're not sure if all the light stacks count, and night shift gets a couple of temps in and they see your light stack which is linked to shift data on the windows server?

 

[harryting]

CAL have two flavors, user or device based. For most control applications. Per device license makes the most sense. I found a good explanation here:

https://blog.micromail.com/2013/01/14/windows-server-licensing-made-simple/

Your reference to PLC,stack-lights, etc.. is a bit confusing. They do not need any kind of license to talk to your server, except what's needed for device drivers such as OPC.

ETA: Some server operation does not require CAL. The example we all know about is a web server(IIS or Internet Information Service). You or your machine does not need a CAL to open up a webpage on a web-server. Same for say an Exchange (mail) server.

 

[AustralIan]

I have seen in Microsoft examples that a printer needs a device CAL, and an overhead information display does too. So why not a PLC? Why not a light stack?

 

[harryting]

What I suspect you read is a multi-function printer that got it's own IP and treated by the OS as a server/client.

think of it this way; if the device needs authentication and management through the server then most likely it needs a CAL.

Does your PLC and stacklight require management by the server OS? Maybe in the future but now I don't know of any that does.

 

[AustralIan]

But you cannot use multiplexing to negate your need for a device CAL. The Servers OS resources are needed in some way to get the shift data out to the light stack.

 

[Paullys50]

Get a beer - Licensing Confusion

Most of us probably fall under this scenario:

Local Windows
Virtual Machines


An organization has a group of
developers who need to test an
application across multiple Windows
images running in local virtual machine
on PCs running Windows 10 Pro.

The PC or the primary user of the PC needs
active Windows Software Assurance, which
permits running up to four virtual machines
concurrently

 

[AustralIan]

Paully, that totally sums up windows desktop licencing for Automation workers. I am going to save that summary somewhere. I am more confused about the server CALs though, for when you run a SCADA system on a windows server OS.

 

[harryting]

Not everything that require server resource needs a CAL. Even for a multi-function printer if all your user got user CAL then it's not needed.

Some devices are defined as peripherals, the monitor, for example.

When server "resource" is mentioned in reference to CAL it means a server OS component. Just because an application does something on that machine doesn't mean it involve server component like authentication. If the PLC can only talk to your HMI with OS authentication, then, probably yes.

 

[Paullys50]

Paully, that totally sums up windows desktop licencing for Automation workers. I am going to save that summary somewhere. I am more confused about the server CALs though, for when you run a SCADA system on a windows server OS.

Shoot, my post was actually meant for that VM one...