Guide to System Center Products and Licensing
The purpose of this guide is to help you find the Microsoft System Center servers and licenses appropriate for your organization's needs.
For additional information, select the Servers – Management Servers licensing model from Microsoft's Product Licensing Search page.
The System Center Family
The products in System Center family help manage physical and virtual information technology (IT) environments across datacenters, client computers, and devices. Each System Center product manages a different aspect of an organization's infrastructure. The products are designed to work together, but each can be used independently.
Technologie Non-Profit offers these System Center products and licenses:
System Center Configuration Manager
System Center Data Protection Manager
System Center Operations Manager
System Center Service Manager
System Center Virtual Machine Manager
System Center Essentials
Management License Suites
In order to use these System Center tools, you need the appropriate server software, server management licenses for all the servers being managed or monitored (both physical and virtual), and client management licenses for all the end users or computers being managed (both physical and virtual).
Note: Many of the System Center products include SQL Server technology. Microsoft's licensing terms for these products allow you to run one instance of the SQL Server technology in one physical or virtual operating system environment (OSE) on one server, but only to support the System Center software. SQL Server client access licenses are not required for that use. You may also create and store any number of instances of SQL Server technology on any of your servers or storage media solely to exercise your right to run an instance of that technology under any of your software licenses. You also may run one passive failover instance in a separate OSE for temporary support. You may run that instance on a server other than the licensed server.
System Center Configuration Manager
System Center Configuration Manager provides software deployment, distribution, update management, and configuration monitoring throughout an organization's IT environment. Configuration Manager automates many tasks associated with software deployment and maintenance while enforcing the organization's software configuration policies and standards. The version offered through PNGO Program includes SQL Server technology that may only be used to support System Center Configuration Manager.
A client management license (ML) is required for each nonserver device managed by Configuration Manager. Clients may be licensed per operating system environment (OSE) or per user.
A standard or enterprise server ML is required for each server (that is, each device running a server operating system) managed by Configuration Manager. The standard ML allows for management of basic server operating system workloads, while the enterprise ML is necessary for management of server applications and other premium workloads.
The Configuration Manager products are Configuration Manager 2007 Server and these licenses: Server ML - Standard, Server ML - Enterprise, OSE Client ML, and User Client ML.
Configuration Manager server MLs are also available as part of the System Center server management suites (available in Enterprise or Datacenter editions). See the Management License Suites section for more information.
Configuration Manager client MLs are also available as part of the Core CAL Suite, licensed per user or per device. See the Core CAL Suites section for more information.
System Center Data Protection Manager
System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) enables disk-based data protection and recovery for file and application servers in an Active Directory domain. DPM backs up client systems, server file systems, Exchange databases, SharePoint data, and SQL databases on a continuous basis, allowing an organization to recover a single lost or corrupted file or restore an entire system.
With the release of DPM 2010, all DPM management licenses (MLs) now include the DPM server software and license. Organizations that want the DPM server software need only request a DPM ML to receive the software. However, although organizations can request multiple MLs, they will be licensed for only one DPM server.
A client ML is required for each nonserver device managed by DPM. Clients may be licensed per operating system environment (OSE) or per user.
A standard or enterprise server ML is required for each server (that is, each device running a server operating system) protected by DPM. The standard ML allows for file-level protection, while the enterprise ML is necessary for application-level protection and protection of virtual machines. Each server or OSE requires either a standard or an enterprise ML, but not both.
The Data Protection Manager software is included with the following DPM licenses: Server ML - Standard, Server ML - Enterprise, OSE Client ML, and User Client ML.
Data Protection Manager server and client MLs are also available as part of the System Center server management suites (available in Enterprise or Datacenter editions) and System Center client management suites (licensed per OSE or per user), respectively. These license suites also include the DPM server software and license. See the Management License Suites section for more information.
System Center Operations Manager
System Center Operations Manager monitors the health of IT services across an organization. Operations Manager can provide IT departments with reports at defined intervals as well as alerts when immediate attention is necessary. Operations Manager can be used to monitor performance of both server and client applications. Management packs — the sets of instructions that Operations Manager uses to monitor specific applications — are available for most current Microsoft server applications and operating systems, as well as many from third parties.
A client management license (ML) is required for each nonserver device managed by Operations Manager. Clients may be licensed per operating system environment (OSE) or per user.
A standard or enterprise server ML is required for each server (that is, each device running a server operating system) managed by Operations Manager. The standard ML allows for management of basic server operating system workloads, while the enterprise ML is necessary for management of server applications and other premium workloads.
The Operations Manager products are Operations Manager 2007 Server and licenses: Server ML - Standard, Server ML - Enterprise, OSE Client ML, and User Client ML.
Operations Manager server and client MLs are also available as part of the System Center server management suites (available in Enterprise or Datacenter editions) and System Center client management suites (licensed per OSE or per user), respectively. See the Management License Suites section for more information.
System Center Service Manager
System Center Service Manager facilitates implementing and automating IT service management (ITSM) best practices across an organization. Service Manager can provide IT departments with processes for incident and problem resolution, change control, and asset life cycle management. The software also provides a platform for integration with other System Center products, such as System Center Operations Manager and System Center Configuration Manager. The version offered through PNGO Program includes SQL Server technology that may only be used to support System Center Service Manager.
A client management license (ML) is required for each nonserver device managed by Service Manager. Client MLs are licensed per user or per operating system environment (OSE) and are available individually or as part of the System Center client management suites.
A server ML is required for each server (that is, each device running a server operating system) managed by Service Manager. Individual Service Manager server MLs are not available through PNGO Program; however, server MLs are available as part of the System Center server management suites (available in Enterprise or Datacenter editions). See the Management License Suites section for more information.
The Service Manager products are: Service Manager 2010 Server and licenses: OSE Client ML and User Client ML.
System Center Virtual Machine Manager
System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) is a server application for administration and management of Microsoft and VMware virtual machine guests and virtual machine hosts. It provides network administrators real-time views of resource allocation and allows rapid reconfiguration.
Administrators can access VMM through the Administrator Console or through the Windows PowerShell command-line interface. VMM analyzes performance data and resource requirements for both the workload and the host, allowing the administrator to fine-tune placement algorithms to receive optimal deployment recommendations from the software. Tools and wizards simplify converting physical machines to virtual ones (physical-to-virtual, or P2V, conversions) and converting VMware virtual machines to the Microsoft VHD format (virtual-to-virtual, or V2V, conversions).
VMM can be configured to allow nonadministrators to deploy nonserver virtual environments through a self-service web portal.
A server ML is required for each virtual machine host (each server hosting virtual machine guests) managed by VMM. Each licensed virtual machine host can run an unlimited number of server operating system environments (OSEs).
A client ML is required for each nonserver OSE managed through VMM. Clients may be licensed per OSE or per user.
The Virtual Machine Manager software is included with the following VMM licenses: Server ML - Enterprise, OSE Client ML, and User Client ML.
VMM is also available as a Workgroup Edition for small to mid-sized organizations. The Workgroup Edition supports managing up to five virtual machine hosts and cannot be expanded beyond this limit. Server MLs for all five hosts are included with the software.
VMM server MLs are also available as part of the System Center server management suites, available in Enterprise or Datacenter editions. These license suites also include the VMM server software and license. See the Management License Suites section for more information.
System Center Essentials
System Center Essentials combines many features of Operations Manager, Configuration Manager, and Virtual Machine Manager in an integrated tool for enterprises with fewer than 500 users and fewer than 50 servers. The version offered through PNGO Program includes SQL Server technology that may only be used to support System Center Essentials.
A server management license (ML) is required for each server device on which managed operating system environments run, and a client ML is required for each nonserver device.
In addition to Essentials 2010 Server, PNGO Program offers license suites with server and client management licenses for Essentials that also include management licenses for System Center Data Protection Manager 2010: Essentials Plus Server ML Suite and Essentials Plus Client ML Suite.
Management License Suites
System Center Server Management License Suites
These license suites offer server management licenses and software for multiple System Center products.
The System Center Server Management Suite is available in Enterprise or Datacenter editions. Both suite editions contain the following:
Enterprise server management licenses for Operations Manager, Configuration Manager, Data Protection Manager, Virtual Machine Manager, and Service Manager.
Server licenses and software for Virtual Machine Manager and Data Protection Manager.
Although organizations can request multiple suites, they will be licensed for only one DPM installation and one Virtual Machine Manager installation.
The Enterprise suite allows up to four virtual operating system environments (VOSEs) plus the physical operating system environment (POSE) to be managed by all of the licensed System Center technologies, provided the POSE is limited to supporting the virtualization capability per license.
The Datacenter suite is licensed on a per-processor basis and requires at least two per-processor licenses to be assigned to a server device. It includes rights to manage an unlimited number of OSEs per server, provided that a Datacenter suite license has been acquired for each processor used by the server.
The server management license suites are Server ML Suite - Enterprise and Server ML Suite - Datacenter.
System Center Client Management License Suites
These license suites offer client management licenses and software for multiple System Center products.
The System Center Client Management Suite is licensed per OSE or per user. The suite contains client MLs for Data Protection Manager, Operations Manager, and Service Manager. It also includes the DPM server software and license; however, organizations can use this software and license to run only one instance of DPM server, even if they request more than one DPM ML.
The client management license suites are OSE Client ML and User Client ML.
Core CAL Suites
These suites offer licenses for key Microsoft server products, including System Center Configuration Manager. Licensed per user or per device, they include client access licenses (CALs) for Windows Server, Exchange Server, and SharePoint Server Standard Edition, as well as a client management license for System Center Configuration Manager.
The core CAL suites are the Core User CAL Suite and the Core Device CAL Suite.
