Running Instance Licensing for Virtualization Scenarios

Yesterday Microsoft announced new licensing to make Virtualization scenarios easier and more cost effective to implement. There are 4 parts to the announcement:

1. Licensing will be by running instance, allowing customers to store an unlimited number of instances at no additional cost, and only pay for those running.
2. Customers can move instances between physical boxes, providing the box is licensed for the product.
3. Per-processing licensing can be licensed by the number of physical processes used.
4. Windows 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition and Windows Server Longhorn Datacentre will allow customers to run up to 4 virtual instances on one physical server at no additional cost.

This should give customers greater flexibility and reduced cost when deploying Windows Server System solutions.

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