Windows 2000 licensing??

[AeroSnoop]

This has been nagging me as of late and everywhere I check I cannot get a clear answer, even from MS reps!

I am setting up a network for a small company of 8 workstations and 1 server. We will be installing either 'Windows 2000 server' or 'Small Business Server 2000' on the server itself, and Windows 2000 Pro on each workstation. With Windows 95 and 98 you have to also buy client access licenses, or CALs. Is this still the case with Win2kpro? I heard somewhere that win2kpro comes with a CAL already. Am I wrong? Is the licensing structure different between regular win2k server and SBS 2000 server? Thanks goes out to anyone working in the IT field who can give me some insight..

One last word.. This is for a real company so I'm trying to keep everything legal here.

AeroSnoop

 

[ejsmith2]

It works that way with every other piece of software you buy, so it probably works that way with msft. They like the green colored cash, instead of checks or money orders, so send that in and everything will be just ducky.

 

[Guest]

Any client that connects to a server and is "authenticated" needs a CAL. This is not true for anonymous users such as web traffic on a web server.

Read the license its pretty legalese, but basicaly if you log in to the server you need a license.

If your only going to have 8 computers plus a server its not that bad, im pretty shure when you buy win2k server it comes with 5 CAL's. You should look into the pricing you may just be better off buying a server with 10 cal's and be done with it. There is also the per seat option where you buy no cal's with win2k server and buy the cal's with win2k pro. I heard that once you go over a certain number its cheaper to use the per-seat method but im not shure what that number is or what the pricing is like, your gonna have to sit down with a dealer and look at numbers.

Dont skimp on licenses especcaly with Microsoft they are the biggest Nazi's of all. They lost a huge sale with Alaskan Airlines over licenseing, it would of costed the airlines a fortune for what they wanted to do.

 

[nicewar]

I agree... my IT dept was just audited and I would swear it was like going to the proctologist!

"Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it."

 

[AeroSnoop]

I don't think you guys clearly understood my question. I was not asking whether or not you need a CAL to log onto a win2k server. I was wondering whether or not Windows 2000 professional already comes with a CAL or not. I believe this was the case for NT 4.0.

 

[Guest]

Microsoft states: "CALs are separate from the desktop operating system used to connect to Microsoft server products. Licensing an operating system (Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows for Workgroups, and so on) does not give you a license to connect to a Windows 2000 Server product."

Note that they explicitly include Windows 2000 Professional in the list of client OSes that does not include a CAL. So, it looks like you will need a CAL for each client.

The location for this information is: http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/guide/server/pricing/faq.asp#question5

Also, you are mistaken about NT Workstation coming with a CAL. The shrink-wrapped version of NTWS didn't come with a CAL.

However, there may have been special volume licensing deals where a large organisation would buy a bundled CAL and NT Workstation license together.

I hope this helps!

JS