TS Licensing

[Guest]

Why weren't TS CALs designed to be freed once a user logs off TS? We have
employess who have left our company, yet the CALs they had are still assigned
to them.

 

[Vera Noest [MVP]]

Because the licensing model is not per concurrent usage.

You don't mention which OS you are running, W2K or 2003.
I'm going to assume that you run W2K. Note that W2K TS CALs are not
assigned to *users* they are always Per Device, and thus assigned
to client computers.

If your TS CALs were installed *after* SP3 (which included a
Licensing Enhancement) was applied to the Terminal Server and
the License Server, then they have an expiration date of 52-89
days. Licenses that are not used (because the client does not
connect to the TS anymore) will automatically be returned to the
LS after the expiration date. In the meantime, your new clients
will get a temporary TS CAL, which is valid for 90 days.

Note that these time periods are choosen to make sure that your
temporary license lasts long enough for the old license to become
available again. So if your TS CALs have an expiration date, and
you are reaching the end of the 90 day temporary license period
without having TS CALs available, it means that you have too few
licenses and you simply have to buy extra TS CALs.

If you installed your TS CALs *before* SP3, then they will not
have an expiration date and be permanently issued to the clients.
These licenses will be lost by a fresh re-installation of the
client OS, or if the client is discarded altogether. You will have
to phone the Clearinghouse to get these TS CALs re-issued.

For detailed information, check the "License Transfer and Token
Recovery" section of the
Windows 2000 Terminal Services Licensing FAQ
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/howtobuy/pricing/tsfaq.
asp

291795 - HOW TO: Locate a Phone Number for the Microsoft
Clearinghouse
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=291795

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply. That's too bad, as it would be more convenient to
license per session, so that the licenses are reusable immediately once a TS
session ends. A large group would need only a handful of reusable licenses.

 

[Vera Noest [MVP]]

Yes, in some case environments this would be more convenient. But I
imagine that the pricing of the licenses would be adjusted
accordingly

Anyway, it's not an option. And the expiration date of the licenses
should see to it that discarded clients are not a problem. You
never have to buy more licenses than you have clients, which makes
it easier to calculate in advance exactly how many licenses you
need. With a "per session" licensing scheme you would have to buy
more licenses, since you never know how many users will connect
simultaneously.

--
Vera Noest
MCSE, CCEA, Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
http://hem.fyristorg.com/vera/IT
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