Microsoft Finally Gets it....Partially Right

In one of my previous posts, I talked about Microsoft Small Business Server 2008 Premium Edition and how this product will now ship with the Small Business Server software, and an additional license of Windows 2008 Server. This will allow the owner to actually run a second server in addition to the Small Business Server. The new licensing also allows the owner to install SQL Server database onto the second server, in order to run company line of business (LOB) software on the additional server. This will allow for much better performance. Current versions only ship with one server license, and you cannot install any part of the package on a second server.

One of the big problems we Small Business Certified Partners saw was that under the original proposed licensing changes, SBS 2008 was only going to ship with SQL 2008. The problem was that most current LOB software packages are just now compatible with SQL version 2005. While the LOB software will more than likely run on the 2008 version of SQL, owners with support agreements for their respective LOB software packages would lose support as the software vendors will not support their software on the newer version of SQL.

The partners(like us) complained loudly enough that Microsoft decided to ship SBS 2008 Premium with both version 2005 and version 2008 of SQL Server. The license would allow for ONE version of SQL to be run. However, they stipulated that if you chose to downgrade to SQL 2005 you would only be allowed to do so until approximately Nov. 2009. After that time, if your software vendor still did not support SQL 2008, your only logical choice of action would be to downgrade the entire system back to SBS 2003, which is no easy feat.

Which leads me to the final answer, which is copied below and comes from Eric Ligman of Microsoft. Eric has headed up the Microsoft Small Business Specialist program, and he is the only person I know that can explain the Microsoft licensing program, usually off the top of his head. The short answer is, if you have already purchased, or choose to purchase SBS 2008 premium within a very short (and getting shorter) time period, you will be allowed to run either version of SQL for as long as you want without a downgrade. If I haven't lost you by now, you will probably want to read Eric's explanation below.

To Your Success,

Tim

Last weekend at SMB Nation, one of the most asked questions was, “If my clients buy SBS 2008 Premium, what version of SQL can they use?” This followed my earlier post, “Is Small Business Server (SBS) 2008 Premium going to ship with SQL 2005 or SQL 2008?” This question was even discussed in great depth during Jeff Middleton’s party where Susan Bradley, Kevin Beares, Dean Paron, and I had a nice long conversation about the various possibilities, all leading to the final outcome where I promised to find out the definitive answer to the question and post it here for everyone. As such, here you go:

Components of SBS cannot be downgraded independently. If you choose to downgrade one component, you must downgrade the entire suite. Because Microsoft recognizes that line-of-business applications may experience compatibility issues moving from one version to the next, for approximately one year from the SBS 2008 Release to Manufacturing (RTM) date, we will ship SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition (both 32 and 64-bit platforms) in addition to the SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition for Small Business with SBS 2008 for the customer’s use in order to address these potential issues.

Customers who receive SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition for Small Business with their SBS 2008 Premium can choose to run SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition instead of SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition with their SBS 2008 Server Premium Edition without having to downgrade their SBS 2008 suite.

Once we stop shipping both versions of SQL Server with SBS 2008 Premium, customers are restricted from downgrading just the SQL Server component.

Customers who received SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition with their SBS 2008 Premium can continue to use it after the shipping period ends, but they may not use both SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition and SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition for Small Business simultaneously. If they choose to continue using SQL Server 2005 after the shipping period ends, they can later choose to install SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition for Small Business instead of SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition.

Customers who do not receive both versions of SQL Server (2005 and 2008) Standard Edition with their SBS 2008 Premium Server license (included for approximately one year from the SBS 2008 Release to Manufacturing (RTM) date) do not receive the rights listed above to run SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition with their SBS 2008 Premium Edition. If they choose to run SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition, they will need to downgrade their entire SBS Premium Edition to SBS 2003 R2 Premium in order to do so.

We will be updating the SBS Downgrade FAQs page shortly with these updated clarifications to help ensure everyone fully understands what version of SQL Server they can and cannot run with their SBS 2008 Premium Server license.

Thank you to everyone for your patience while we worked to get you these clarifications on this issue.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman Non-Managed Partner CPE LeadMicrosoft Worldwide Partner Group