Microsoft Select Agreement SQL Server 2005 Questions
When will SQL Server 2005 be available?
Microsoft has announced that SQL Server 2005 (along with Visual Studio 2005) will be launched on or about November 7, 2005. For more information as well as important news and updates, please refer to Microsoft's product page.
Licenses and installation media should be available for purchase from Dell under the Microsoft Select Agreement within one month of the official public release.
Is SQL Server 2005 available under the existing Microsoft Campus Agreement (MSCA)?
No. Server licenses are not covered under the Microsoft Campus Agreement. Licenses and installation media for SQL Server 2005 should be available for purchase from Dell under the Microsoft Select Agreement within one month of the official public release.
Can I upgrade existing SQL Server 2000 licenses to SQL Server 2005?
Customers who purchased SQL Server 2000 licenses and have current Software Assurance (SA) are eligible to upgrade to SQL Server 2005.
Customers who have purchased annual SQL Server subscription licensing as part of the Microsoft Campus Agreement Add-Ons will be eligible to upgrade to SQL Server 2005 provided they have a current subscription at the time of release.
Customers who are eligible to upgrade to SQL Server 2005 will be able to do so by purchasing new installation media from Dell.
Please note, while the server license can be upgraded under the circumstances above, Client Access Licenses (CALs) do NOT include this upgrade option. Please see Do I need to purchase SQL Server 2005 Client Access Licenses or per-processor licensing below for important details on client licensing.
How can I obtain new licensing?
SQL Server 2005 Standard and Enterprise Edition licensing should be available for purchase from Dell under the Microsoft Select Agreement within one month of the official public release.
How can I obtain installation media?
SQL Server 2005 Standard and Enterprise Edition installation media should be available for purchase from Dell under the Microsoft Select Agreement within one month of the official public release. The release schedule for Select installation media is set by Microsoft and is beyond the control of the University.
Do I need to purchase SQL Server 2005 Client Access Licenses (CALs) or per-processor licensing?
For SQL Server 2000, Client Access Licenses (CALs) were permanently covered for UT students, faculty, staff and departments as a provision of the Microsoft Campus Enterprise Agreement which expired in 2002. Under the current Microsoft Campus Agreement (MSCA), continuing coverage of SQL Server CALs is no longer provided. The permanent SQL Server 2000 CALs are for version 2000 only, and cannot be upgraded.
Departments who move to SQL Server 2005 will need to either purchase SQL Server 2005 CALs or per-processor licensing.
Client Access Licenses (CALs)
In the Client-Server licensing model, CALs allow client users or devices to connect to your SQL Server. Departments should purchase SQL Server Device CALs or User CALs when a finite number of known users or devices will be communicating with the SQL Server.
Per-processor Licensing
Alternatively, departments can alleviate the need for CALs by purchasing per-processor licensing. With per-processor licensing, an unlimited number of users or devices can access the licensed server. A single license must be purchased for each processor that runs the SQL Server software. For example, a machine running SQL Server on 4 processors would need four licenses.
