Hi folks, i have a windows server 2003 standard OEM which should soon be virtualized on a vmware platform and various 2008 standard and SBS servers . I'd like to know if we need to buy additionnal licence for that, or if my OEM licence is still ok. the physical box will be thrown away or kept in stock, depends on the licensing policy. thanks a lot for your help

i have a windows server 2003 standard OEM which should soon be virtualized on a vmware platform and various 2008 standard and SBS servers . I'd like to know if we need to buy additionnal licence for that, or if my OEM licence is still ok. the physical box will be thrown away or kept in stock, depends on the licensing policy. An Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) license is only valid when the Certificate of Authenticity is placed on a machine. From that moment onwards, the OEM license lives and dies with that machine. Unless the server hardware you've placed the 'sticker' on is going to be the virtualization host for the OEM-licensed product and the OEM-licensed product is not configured to be highly available (as in: transferrable to another machine through vMotion, Quick Migration, Live Migration, etc.), you are going to have to buy a new license for the Server Operating System. This new license may either be a retail license or volume license.

Dear Sander, thanks for your reply that's ... sad !