I'm not sure how to approch server licensing for a school. We currently have a 2003 domain licensed "per server" , 500 users we want to relpace the DC with a 2008 server and the academic edition of the OS My questions are these: are there academic licenses? and what would be the best licensing option (per server or per user) if we will need 368 user accounts and 1 server?

Hello, for correct license information please contact Microsoft support.Best regards Meinolf Weber MVP, MCP, MCTS Microsoft MVP - Directory Services My Blog: http://msmvps.com/blogs/mweber/ Disclaimer: This posting is provided AS IS with no warranties or guarantees and confers no rights.

Hello, I would recommend contacting a Microsoft licensing expert in your country for more information. See that: http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/ This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights. Microsoft Student Partner 2010 / 2011 Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Security Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer: Security Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows 7, Configuring Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Designing and Providing Volume Licensing Solutions to Large Organizations Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Enterprise Administrator Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Server Administrator Microsoft Certified Trainer

My questions are these: are there academic licenses? Not that I'm aware of. Visit this link for details - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/products/Pages/windowsserver.aspx what would be the best licensing option (per server or per user) if we will need 368 user accounts and 1 server? That depends on the number of concurrent users and devices connecting to the server. If you believe that there won't be more that 368 users connecting to the server at a time then Per User is the best option for you because with per devices CALs are tied with the devices hence cant be moved around, if a computer fails you would manually need to revoke the license unlike user CAL which is issued only for a session and then revoked automatically however not more users than the number of available CAL can connect to the server as i said. Please visit this link for additional explanation of licensing options - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc738561%28v=ws.10%29.aspx I also suggest you call MS directly to clear all your doubts regarding this -Contact Microsoft Sales HTH Sachin Gadhave (MCP, MCTS)

If you are an educational institution then there is an entirely separate licensing mechanic in place. It is not the normal per server or per user licensing you find in the retail world, as students and staff are often not considered an FTE (full time equivalent) meaning there's not a 1:1 relationship between the head count and the required licensing. Unless your school is privately run (though it's definitely still possible if yours is), you quite likely already have someone handling what's known as a campus agreement that you could be using. You should be looking into this as you'll find the software prices and associated licensing are profoundly discounted. So, while you can simply call Microsoft Sales, I'd highly recommend you look within the education system first (I'm only familar with the Australian education system, so I can't comment on exactly who you might seek in others, though if you have a state level department, that would be a good place to start) and see if you can't obtain licensing through a wider representative body. As an example, we belong to a representative body here in Australia that negotiates on behalf of around 39 universities and a number of schools, meaning we get much better pricing than if we looked at licensing on our own. Just a quick note on the actual software: you don't use academic versions within your environment. You still make use of the normal volume licensing media. Academic versions exist so that students or staff can purchase their own copies of the software - it's not what you actually run internally. Again, I'd strongly urge you to check within the education system first to see if you have a department or body already negotiating on your behalf and access licensing through that channel. I can't emphasize enough how much money this will save you, along with giving you access to a much greater software portfolio. Cheers, Lain

any updates for your issue?Jeff Ren TechNet Community Support beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

For licensing related issue, youd better contact Microsoft licensing team. In the United States and Canada, you may call the licensing team directly at 1-800-426-9400 (select option 4), Monday through Friday, 6:00 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. (PST) to speak directly to a Microsoft licensing specialist. In this way, you will know the detailed information about license. Worldwide customers can use the Guide to Worldwide Microsoft Licensing Siteshttp://www.microsoft.com/licensing/worldwide.aspx to find contact information in their locations. http://www.arabitpro.com