CAL question

[the]

hey guys, first post, have browsed here on more than one occasion

kind of a dumb question, but i just want it cleared up once and for all, as micorosoft has left a bit of ambiguity about it.

Do i need CAL's just to log on to the domain? im not running exhcange, term servcies, any application server, or anything that blatently requires a CAL. Just running a Sever 2k3 + XP active directory environment. This came about in a discussion why we elected against Exchange, wich was becuase the company didnt want to dish out extra money for CAL's for a server whose funtionality would never be used to its extent, and a friend believed we needed a CAL per user on the domain therefore had a cal per mailbox. I was under the impression we didnt need a cal per user on the domain, unless we had some software that required it, with a few exceptions connecting over the internet without using some forms of authentication. I really really dont remember any where in the bootcamps them saying anything about need a CAL per user on the domain, and we covered CAL's for a good 45mins or so.

thanks again guys, and if i;ve left this a bit arbitrary let me know. im no good at getting ideas across.

[AdamV]

Client Access Licences (CALs) go with the servers of the same product. So to use Exchange, you need exchange CALs, to use Windows server you need Windows Server CALs. These are in addition to the licence for the server itself.

If your users are using any of the services of Windows (eg file sharing, which is pretty standard issue, ) then they need Windows CALs.

The only time you don't need them is if you had a non-Windows server environment in which there was a Windows server hosting something such as SQL. If the users are only using the application, and not the services of Windows per se, then you only need to licence the application.

Windows CALs are per user or per device, you choose which model you are using for the whole organisation. Typical scenarios:
Call centre with three 8 hour shifts using the same 50 PCs - go with per device for the 50, not per user for 150.
More normal office use - people have their desktop, maybe a PDA or a laptop as well, and use shared computers as well for training or internet access - go with per user, so that licence covers the person for every device they use.

If you had eg 15 servers and 100 users in the second scenario, you would need 15 server licences and 100 CALs.

(I guess you might need to go out and buy some CALs now...)

[Eric]

Be careful on SQL client access licenses. If you an application that requires a backend SQL database, you need either SQL CALs for each user/device or a CPU license on the SQL server. It doesn't matter if the client only hits a website running on Apache, or if it's a full blown fat client app that talks right to the database.

Microsoft considers the website running on Apache example as Multiplexing, and explains it quite thoroughly in their documentation on how to properly license SQL server here:
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/howtobuy/sqlserverlicensing.mspx

Eric

[AdamV]

That's absolutely true, Eric. The thing people then get tied up with is that this scenario does not require a Windows CAL.

Also note you don't need SQL CALs for non-staff non-supplier users. In other words, customers who hit your website with a SQL backend. You need the appropriate connector licences or go for per-processor model.