I have kind of a dumb question. For an upcoming project, I will need the SQL Server Standard Edition, but it isn’t clear which licensing option I can choose. Basically, I can get a per-processor license with unlimited clients, or a client based license.
In your architecture, are the FPMI clients throughout the plant actually considered as SQL Server clients as well? Or are the only actual clients FactorySQL and the FPMI gateway? It isn’t a huge difference, but a few thousand bucks is a few thousand bucks.
Our “clients” only communicate with the FactoryPMI Gateway, NOT the database directly (no ODBC/JDBC connection, etc). In fact, you could block every port but the Client/Gateway comm (default 8080) and restrict all communication except between client and gateway and all would work fine.
From the database licensing perspective, only FactorySQL and the FactoryPMI gateway are clients. I would even argue that is one client between them if they’re on the same box.
Go with the client based license if the database is strictly for an IA project.
Thanks Nathan, that’s what I thought. That makes the standard edition cost very reasonable, even for mid-sized projects that are just a little too big for Express.
I’m going to start testing with the Developer Edition, and I’m anxious to see if I see inceased performance with the 1GB ram limitation removed (not that I have issues with the performance I already see- you guys still amaze me).
I hate to rain on the parade here, but I think that to be on the safe side you should ask Microsoft this question. You guys are equating a client license to an actual database connection, but I don’t think it works like that - thats not how I read it in their licensing info.
Not to mention the fact that you’ve ignored the fact that our software uses connection pooling, which means that multiple connections will be opened, but like I said, I don’t think that 1 connection == 1 CAL (client access license)
Sorry about the bad information. I looked into this more thoroughly. Threading/connection pooling doesn’t get you, but Microsoft has special licensing clauses for “multiplexing, middleware, transaction servers, etc”, which apply here.